Hungary to quit UN migration pact shunned by Washington

The Global Compact For Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was approved on Friday by all 193 UN member nations except the United States, which pulled out last year.

But Hungary, led by right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has decided not to sign the final document at a ceremony in December.

“This document is entirely against Hungary’s security interests,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a news conference, adding: “This pact poses a threat to the world from the aspect that it could inspire millions (of migrants).”

Hungary, along with Poland and Czech Republic, has taken a tough stand against the admission of migrants, putting it at odds with the European Union, but striking a chord with voters by arguing that irregular immigration threatens European stability, and fencing off Hungary’s southern borders.

Szijjarto said the UN pact was “extreme, biased and facilitates migration.

“Its main premise is that migration is a good and inevitable phenomenon ... We consider migration a bad process, which has extremely serious security implications.”

Szijjarto said Hungary’s proposals were brushed aside during the debate of the document, which he said mostly favoured the interests of African and Latin American countries, from where migration is more likely to originate.