The Hungarian government will do everything it can to support Austria in overturning the EU’s disastrous immigration policy, according to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

“Hungary expects the Austrian EU Presidency to practice a totally new politics that is the complete reverse of Brussels’ existing migration policy,” he said.

“The Hungarian Government will be providing all possible support towards this.”

Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said in a speech to the European Parliament yesterday that he “will be working to create a safe Europe”, adding that he “views the reduction of illegal migration as one of [his] most important tasks.”

Szijjártó stressed that while he welcomed the positive noises coming from EU leaders, there was still a battle to be had with the “forces that are organising migration.”

“It must be declared that Europe can only be entered legally and that those who have arrived illegally must return to where they came from,” he said in a statement.

“Hungary will continue to take firm action in future to ensure that European migration policy begins with the protection of eternal borders and every country is free to decide for itself who it admits and who it wants to live with.”

Hungary’s Foreign Minister went viral last week after schooling BBC Newsnight activist presenter Emily Maitlis on why his country is taking a hardline approach to illegal immigration.

“What we don’t want is a massive illegal influx coming from the south to us, we want to keep Hungary a Hungarian country and we don’t think by definition that multiculturalism is good,” he said.

“If you think so, if people in this country think so, we respect that, but please don’t put pressure on us.”