Speaking before a United Nations Security Council session in New York, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Europe is facing the most severe security crisis since the second world war and the continent would not be able to handle an additional security risk.
The foreign minister said it is all the more reason to make progress towards security in the Middle East, because instability in that region has a direct impact on the security of Europe, by way of terrorist threats and illegal migration. “Peace and stability in the Middle East are in Europe’s fundamental interest,” the minister said. Minister Szijjártó also addressed the issue of the global food crisis, which he attributed to the armed conflict in Ukraine. The sudden halt in Ukrainian and Russian grain supplies resulted in food supply crises in several parts of the world, he added. Shortage of food can trigger violence and terrorism which then generate new waves of migration, he said. Minister Szijjártó called it an important development that a new intermodal terminal had recently opened in Fényeslitke on the Hungary-Ukraine border, with a capacity twice the previous largest terminal’s in Europe. Some 800 tonnes of grain per hour can pass through and continue on its way to ports in the northern Adriatic and further to global markets, he added.