"Cape Verde is a country that has a responsible approach to the issue of migration", Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to public media on Wednesday. The Hungarian Foreign Minister accompanied Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on an official visit to Praia, the capital of Cape Verde.
In the statement, Mr. Szijjártó spoke about the fact that in Europe, and particularly in Brussels, a damaging simplification exists with relation to Africa. "The European Commission often attempts to portray the whole continent as a group of countries in which every state is working on ways to send its own citizens towards Europe. They are attempting to portray Africa as a continent that is trying to free itself of the burdens created by its increasing population. But this is not true of all African countries, and is also not true in the case of Cape Verde", the Minister underlined, adding: "The Republic of Cape Verde needs its own citizens; it doesn't want to send them away, it wants to keep them".
"The Republic of Cape Verde is protecting its own borders and has introduced major border defence and border security measures. In addition, it is a country that takes its cooperation with the European Union seriously. For this reason, Hungary is calling for the EU to take the development of its relations with Cape Verde seriously. Within the field of the economy, we are calling for the European Union to sign a bilateral economic partnership agreement with the Republic of Cape Verde", he continued.
"We must assist countries that have a serious and responsible approach to issues that directly affect the security of Europe", Mr. Szijjártó said, pointing out: "We can be sure that Cape Verde will not be a source of mass migration, and that it will in all cases introduce measures relating to its own security and that of Europe in cooperation with Europe".
The Minister said the parties would like to tighten economic cooperation between the two countries in the interests of facilitating stability in the Republic of Cape Verde, and to also facilitate the interests of Hungarian businesses. "Within the framework of this cooperation, Hungarian enterprises will be realising investment projects in the country that contribute to reinforcing the stability of the Republic of Cape Verde through improving the productivity of agriculture, and via projects required to develop water management", Mr. Szijjártó told the press.