Pro-peace shift in Europe attributed to Hungary’s EU presidency, official says
Although the majority of countries still belong to the “pro-war camp” in Europe, more and more countries have started to endorse peace and a ceasefire thanks to the consistent Hungarian standpoint represented by Hungary’s current EU presidency and the Hungarian prime minister’s peace mission, a government official for EU affairs said in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
The issue of war and peace is the main topic in Europe today, with “the Russia-Ukraine war casting a shadow on every affair not only in Brussels, but in the whole of Europe,” Barna Pál Zsigmond, parliamentary state secretary of the EU affairs ministry, said on the sidelines at a European Parliament plenary session.
“We Hungarians have kept saying ever since the war broke out that we have a pro-peace stance, that we want to have peace,” he said, adding that at the beginning of the presidency, only Hungary and the Vatican had belonged to the “pro-peace camp”.
“At that time, the word peace could not be uttered, and those who spoke about peace were immediately stigmatised,” the state secretary said, noting that “in a shift since then, more and more [countries] have realised that something must be done … and that it is a common interest to have peace next door”.
He said the fact that US President-elect Donald Trump is also an advocate of peace helped give hope for a ceasefire in the coming period which could be followed by peace.
“A primary priority of the Hungarian presidency ending this month has been to enhance the EU’s competitiveness,” he said, highlighting the adoption of the Budapest Declaration which defines concrete steps, deadlines and tasks for the European Commission.
“Under the Hungarian presidency, a breakthrough has been achieved concerning the issue of migration; it can now be freely said what we have been saying from the start, which is that the EU’s external borders must be protected and only those must be allowed to enter the EU who are indeed entitled to asylum,” he said.
Zsigmond called the full integration of Romania and Bulgaria with the EU Schengen system an outstanding result, highlighting the integration’s national strategic importance in terms of Hungarian-Romanian relations. “This means that Hungarians in Transylvania can from now on travel to Hungary without needing a document.”
“The border between Romania and Hungary has finally disappeared,” the state secretary said.
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