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When Laszlo Szabo, Hungary's deputy minister for foreign affairs and trade, visited the United States this month, he made a point of including Los Angeles on his itinerary.

I wanted to come to L.A. because there is a huge community of Hungarian origin, said Szabo, who is also his countrys minister of state for parliamentary affairs.

Part of that community was historically associated with the film industry, including Bela Lugosi, the Gabor sisters and Drew Barrymore, among others.

But Szabos mission to the City of Angels was not to talk film. He came to push investment and trade, and during his mission stopped by The Times to share his views on these and other issues.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why should U.S. companies invest in Hungary?

They are already doing so. We already have more than $18 billion coming from U.S. companies. The U.S. is our No. 2 investor in the country, after Germany.

What kinds of U.S. business are investing in Hungary?

Pharmaceuticals, for example. The automotive industry is quite heavily there. But also digital technologies [and] shared service centers. Were talking about 1,750 companies employing 93,000 people.

How would you characterize the relationship between the U.S. and Hungary?

Traditionally, we have been great allies, especially since Hungary joined NATO. Hungary is very, very active on many fronts. We have our troops in Afghanistan. We have troops in Iraq. We have been helping [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization] in policing the airspace in the Baltic states.

So this is one side of the collaboration. The other side is the economic collaboration. Theres quite significant trade between the two countries.

Is the Trump administration one Hungary can work with?

We certainly hope so. It will still take a few months until we see how things will work out. But we are very glad that Prime Minister [Viktor] Orban of Hungary had a telephone conversation with President Trump quite early after his election and its quite clear that in many, many challenges the approach of Hungary and the U.S. are quite similar right now.

We have had our [frictions] with the previous administration, but this doesnt mean that we were not allies all the way through. From time to time we felt that theres unnecessary pressure from the previous administration.

How do you respond to the criticism that Hungary is violating human rights in its treatment of migrants?

Hungary is trying to [uphold] the regulations of the Dublin treaty [which determines where an asylum seekers application should be processed] and the Schengen treaty [which abolishes border checks among certain European nations].

We are letting anyone into the country who is trying to cross the border legally. If they dont have any papers, we try to provide asylum for those who are seeking asylum, according to the Geneva treaty, naturally.

But there is one thing that is often misinterpreted in the press. Hungary actually never closed its borders to refugees or migrants. Anyone, even in the last two years, who wanted to cross the border legally [could use] border crossing stations. You provide your papers, your passport, and if you dont have one, you basically play by the rules of the authorities and by the legislation of the European Union. You provide a photo and you provide fingerprints just like entering into the U.S.

It was very strange for us to be singled out at the very beginning of the migration crisis in 2015. The black sheep in the family was the one country that kept the regulations and the rules, and those who completely disregarded them Italy, Greece they were wonderful people, wonderful countries, everything is shiny and peachy.

When Hungary started to build a wall, not to close the border [but] to protect the green border so people cannot cross illegally, just like the European Union mandates us, [then-]Chancellor [Werner] Faymann of Austria, for example, called us fascists. When Austria started to build a fence two months later, that was [considered] a gate with long wings. So this is what I call hypocrisy.

So youve closed the border to those you consider to be illegal migrants?

Its very clear. If someone wants to cross cornfields during the night, I dont think even the U.S. would call that legal migration. Also, lets not forget that those people who originally ran for their lives because of their political beliefs, or because of the war situation in their home country, they are only considered refugees based on the Geneva Convention until they get to the next safe place, closest to their home country. So basically, this is where they need support, this is where they need humanitarian help.

If you start marching through six, seven safe countries, by the time you reach Hungary or Austria or Germany, you have basically walked thousands of miles going through safe countries clearly looking for a better life. So youre not running for your life anymore.

So this is where the definition of a refugee and a migrant gets confused very easily, and we are quite disturbed by this fact.

Whats the solution for the EU?

First, lets talk about the damage. We believe theres lot of wasted energies within Europe, because many of the politicians try to gain an internal political advantage from the migration crisis. Quite simply, facts are sometimes distorted for that reason.

For us, it was a shock to see that Greece just let [migrants] through without any questions, put them on boats, on buses, on trains, and just sent them through to Germany or Sweden. And now look at Germany, look at Sweden. They have already decided that 50% of those people are not eligible for asylum.

In our view, you have to be smarter than this. You have to decide whether a person is a refugee or economic migrant outside the borders of the European Union. They are already in a safe place in Serbia. They are already in a safe place in Greece. Even better for Europe if they stay in Turkey, for example, or in Libya, or in Jordan. There, we have to provide humanitarian aid.

We need international collaboration in stopping the [Syrian] war. This is very, very important. We believe Europe as a whole, NATO, even Russia, has to chip in and has to collaborate to find a common solution to the war.

So is the EU to blame for the migrant crisis?

Read more here:
A Hungarian diplomat talks about working with Trump, handling the migrant crisis and being the black sheep of Europe - Los Angeles Times

Wednesday, March 29, 2017 7:17 AM UTC

Even after more than two years since its reckoning, the European migrant crisis continues to rage like a fire that cant just be put out and in the latest twist, Austria, a member of the European Union has declared that it cannot (or do not want to) accept any more refugees under the European refugee scheme which states that the member states need to share the burden of incoming refugees. The deal has already been struggling for more than a year in its implementation. Under this plan, which was adopted in September 2015, at the height of the migrant crisis, refugees who arrived in the European Union via Greece and Italy have to be relocated and resettled across the European Union.

In 2015, Austria accepted about 90,000 refugees and called for an exemption. A temporary exemption was granted but that now remains expired. Now, Brussels have asked Austria to abide by the legal agreement.

The intake of refugees, who are predominantly Muslim in their faith and comes from war torn regions in the Middle East and North Africa have led to cultural integration problems in Austria and has given to the rise of the far right freedom party. Norbert Hoffer, the leader of the Austrian freedom party almost won the 2016 Presidential election. The current administration wants to cut down the support for Mr. Hoffer with atougher stance on the influx of refugees.

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Link:
Migrant Crisis Series: Austria wants exemption from EU migrant scheme - EconoTimes

Migrant Crisis Series: Greece and Italy look to back away from taking further refugees

United Nations International Organization for Migration reported that 20,484 refugees from entered Europe this year by traveling via sea, according to data collected till mid-March. More than 80 percent of them came to Italy, followed by Greece and Spain. Both Italy and Greece are voicing their angertowards the European Union by saying that both of these countries have reached saturation limit and cannot take any more refugees.

Greek Migration minister said that Greece is already sheltering about 60,000 refugees and it would be a mistake to make Greeces burden heavier using the Dublin agreement. The Dublin agreement states that refugees can be set back to the first country they had set their foot on in Europe. Italy, which has taken in 500,000 refugees since 2014, says that it cannot take any more refugees. It warns that, if the European government fails to control the influx of migrant boats then the country could be overrun by tens of thousands of new African refugees.

Several Eastern European countries including the Czech Republic have also expressed their displeasure with the European refugee scheme and refuse to take in refugees other than Christians.

The fallouts from the refugee crisis are far from over and it continues to strain the relations between different countries in the European Union.

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See more here:
Migrant Crisis Series: Greece and Italy look to back away from taking further refugees - EconoTimes

Maltas home affairs chief Carmelo Abela said the issue of sending back failed asylum seekers had been catapulted to the top of member states agendas because of a lack of faith in the EU Commission.

The extraordinary admission came as interior ministers from across the bloc gathered in Brussels today to discuss bold plans to finally bring the migrant crisis under control.

EbS

It demonstrates an increasing friction between the member states and eurocrats over the issue of migration, with many national governments looking to take the issue back into their own hands amid voter outrage.

Top EU figures are set to discuss a massive increase in returns to send a message to would-be immigrants not to travel to Europe unless they are in genuine need of international protection.

EbS

GETTY

Mr Abela told reporters: The return policy will be discussed because it wasnt trusted on the Commission to come up with the proposal.

Just over a third of all failed asylum seekers in Europe are currently sent back to their country of origin, a low rate which ministers say is failing to act as a deterrent to irregular migration.

Member states are responsible for processing asylum requests and for physically sending back those deemed not to have a case for international protection.

However, the EU intervenes heavily in the return process through its border agency Frontex and via a 2010 directive, not applicable in the UK, which governs the rights of failed refugees.

And now eurocrats want to dismantle large parts of the controversial law, which they say makes it too easy for irregular migrants to indefinitely stall deportation orders.

The return policy will be discussed because it wasnt trusted on the Commission to come up with the proposal

Maltese interior minister Carmelo Abela

They want to alter EU policy to allow member states to detain migrants seekers awaiting deportation, so they cannot abscond, and to target specific nationalities which are seen to be abusing the asylum process.

Ahead of the meeting migration commissioner Dimitris Avramompoulos said: An effective return policy starts within the European Union. But we don't need new legislation or new rules. We need a better implementation of existing rules, in a coordinated way by all Member States.

Ultimately our aim is to reduce the number of irregular arrivals by making it clear to those migrants who are not in need of protection and who do not have a right to stay in the EU that they should not undertake a perilous journey to arrive in Europe illegally.

Some countries on the frontline of the migrant crisis think the measures still do not go far enough, and want to adopt a new action plan to further crack down on irregular migration.

But Estonias interior minister Andres Anvelt backed eurocrats changes and said he believed national governments were close to agreeing unanimity on a way forward.

REUTERS

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A migrant taunts Hungarian riot police as they fire tear gas and water cannon on the Serbian side of the border, near Roszke

He said: I fully support the new renewed action plan of the Commission. Sending back the people who dont have the legal right to be in Europe is the key action tor educe the refugee crisis.

It will send loud and clear a message to all those who want to become illegal immigrants. All together we have to speed up our returning mechanism as soon as possible.

We are very close to that. Some countries they are thinking of a new action plan. I think we have a very good return policy but we are not fulfilling it as much as possible as countries can do.

European countries issued 530,000 deportation orders to irregular migrants and failed asylum seekers in 2015, during a year in which more than a million people arrived on the continent.

But just 194,000 of those deemed to have no right to stay - a pitiful 36 per cent - were ever actually send back to their home countries, with the rest finding ways to stay in the EU.

See original here:
EU states to seize control of migrant return policy from eurocrats - Express.co.uk

Its night, 18 miles off Libyas coast. Im waiting alongside Sharo, who is eight months pregnant. That morning, wed rescued her from a dangerously overcrowded wooden boat. To save her, as well as the children and those who were sick, wed had to leave her husband. All day, Sharo has battled labor pains and anxiety for her husband. Was he alive? Headed for a refugee processing center hundreds of miles away?

For two weeks, Ive been a volunteer on the Minden, an 80-foot former German Coast Guard ship operated by two German nongovernmental organizations, Cadus and Lifeboat Project. The Minden now carries a crew of eight including medical staff and RIB (rigid inflatable boat) operators to the front lines of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean.

On my very first shift, at 4 a.m., we passed the Bouri Field, a huge offshore oil and natural gas complex in the East Mediterranean just 65 miles from Libya. Its gas flare is so bright it burned like a candle in my peripheral vision for hours until sunrise. Later, I learned the flare serves as a beacon for migrants heading north to Europe. Smugglers tell them the flare is the faint glow of Italy.

For the first week, we idled next to seven aid vessels from other NGOs Sea-Eye, Sea-Watch 2, Topaz Responder, Aquarius, Golfo Azzurro, Astral, and the Iuventa scanning the horizon. But high swells and strong onshore winds kept refugees ashore.

Waiting, we practiced rescue maneuvers and monitored Channel 16 VHF, the open channel for maritime activity. But the channel remained quiet except for late-night requests by Russian trawlers and Egyptian tankers heading to Tripoli, Libya, or European Union warships enforcing the Libyan arms embargo.

On clear days, through binoculars, I could make out a refinery and transmission towers on the coast. There are no landmarks to denote Libyas territorial waters, so we steered carefully, directed by a series of red pixelated skull-and-crossbones icons on our radar. They look like something from a video game, but we had to take them seriously. In August, the Libyan Navy fired on and boarded the Bourbon Argos, operated by Doctors Without Borders, for crossing the line to help a refugee boat in distress.

After a week, I began to doubt what seemed to be an excessive show of humanitarian assets. Had the migrants moved east, away from us?

Then, as the weather calmed, everything changed.

Over a three-day period, some 11,000 refugees tried to cross the Mediterranean, according to the Italian Coast Guard. These arent so much attempts to reach Europe as they are sprints past the Libyan Coast Guard known to extort money or force rafts to return to the loose receiving line of rescue boats waiting beyond the 12-mile territorial limit.

The sheer number of rafts overwhelmed our flotilla. Tragedies mounted. Hassim, a Syrian refugee, told me that he and his family had left with seven other boats. Two days later, wed recovered only three. The others may have drifted out of our patrol area, into the open ocean.

We began to hear of deaths: a pregnant woman, a teenage girl. A man we rescued died hours later from extended exposure to toxic fumes. The next day, I joined the crew of the Astral to load 26 casualties into body bags.

Amid the tragedy so many risking so much for a chance at a safer, better life Im unexpectedly struck by instances of a shared humanity:

Like the group of women from Ivory Coast befriend Cadisha, a mother from Mali who is partially paralyzed from a bullet lodged in her head. The women take turns caring for Dani, her 3-year-old daughter.

Or the realization that on every raft, there will always be two or three people whose glances are so transparent that they emerge as leaders, helping to transform a traumatic situation into a bearable one. They maintain calm on the craft, identify the sick and dead, the pregnant and the children, and ensure that everyone has a life jacket.

Or when a migrant breaks protocol, stepping uninvited onto our RIB a cardinal rule meant to keep people from panicking only to lay three broken men near death onto our bow, one by one, and then fall back.

Or when, hours after the rest of our refugees have disembarked safely, Sharo remains aboard and still alone. Then she calls me over and gestures to an oncoming RIB from another aid ship. She whispers: Thats him. My husband.

Note: many thanks to the German NGOs, Cadus and the Lifeboat Project, who are working on the frontline of the refugee and migrant crisis. Special thanks to the crew of the Minden.

Read more from the original source:
On The Front Lines Of The Migrant Crisis - Huffington Post