ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto warned on Wednesday that any further escalation of the armed tensions in the Middle East could trigger a new wave of migration to Europe.
"One of the reasons why we try to help to avoid escalation is that we would like to avoid further migratory waves to take place,” Szijjarto told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda in New York on Wednesday.
Budapest’s top diplomat was speaking on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
“We are all aware that if conflicts escalate in other parts of the world, as well, including the Middle East, that will put another migratory pressure on the continent. So we hope that there will be no escalation,” he added.
The conflict between Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, backed by Iran, and Israel has been intensifying since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched a large-scale incursion into southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a massive ongoing offensive on Gaza, killing over 41,455 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Risks of a regional spillover from the war in Gaza are higher than ever after Israeli airstrikes against the Hamas-allied Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon on Monday, which killed at least 558 and injured thousands, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
These escalations and others in the region have alarmed many in European countries, concerned that more people could migrate to the continent.
