Europe’s security begins with Turkey, Hungarian FM tells the bloc

The security of the European Union begins with Turkey and the bloc should refrain from criticizing Ankara, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó, said Friday. His remarks, as reported by the Hungarian news agency MTI, came after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Valetta, Malta.

The main topic of discussion at the meeting in Valetta focused on relations between Turkey and the EU, Szijjártó said.

"We must refrain from criticizing Ankara and we must maintain dialogue, because this is not only in the economic interests of the European Union, but also in its fundamental security interests," Szijjártó told MTI.

Szijjártó said that the stability of Turkey, which signed an agreement with the EU to halt the wave of migration in exchange for 3 billion euros, was crucial for the bloc. If this agreement failed, Szijjártó warned, millions of migrants could move on to Europe by the Western Balkan route and arrive at Hungary's southern borders.

Szijjártó also explicitly mentioned the Turkish constitutional reform referendum, stressing that it was up to Turkish citizens to decide upon the future course of their country and that Hungary respected the outcome of the referendum.

"We regard it as very strange that it is the very Western European political elite who let millions of Muslim immigrants into Europe that is now trembling because of developments in Turkey," he reportedly said.

The foreign minister also highlighted that permanent criticism undermines the agreement between Turkey and the European Union