Hungarian FM calls for end to ‘politics of interference and lecturing’ at OSCE meeting

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday called for respect for each country’s domestic policy decisions and an end to the “politics of interference and lecturing”, at an informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) member states.

At the meeting in Strbske Pleso (Csorbató), northern Slovakia, Szijjártó said the OSCE offered a forum for “dialogue between the west and the east”. Sensible dialogue is of great importance for central European countries “because they always lost in [those] conflicts”, he added.

“The time for partnership instead of lecturing has come in international politics,” he said. It should be accepted that all nations know what’s best for them, he added.

Speaking to Hungarian public media on the sidelines of the meeting, Szijjártó said that ethnic minorities’ rights had been harmed recently in eastern Europe. “Until those rights are respected, it is hard to talk about calm in international politics,” he said.