Following the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, Foreign Minister János Martonyi stated that migration is not only a humanitarian problem but also a security policy challenge.

Mr. Martonyi pointed out that the number of asylum seekers in Hungary had increased dramatically over the past year. Consequently, Hungary has become second in the European Union (after Sweden) with respect to the number of asylum seekers per 1 million inhabitants.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister said that the EU foreign ministers had discussed the issues of migration with respect to the crises in Syria, Libya and Egypt and that the waves of migration coming from these Arabic countries to Italy and Malta would eventually reach Hungary as well.

As regards the importance of delivering humanitarian aid to Syria, János Martonyi stressed that Hungarian oil company MOL would soon open a school – built with the support of the Hungarian Government – near the Syrian-Lebanese border.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)