Anti-Hungarian Romanian President Iohannis as NATO Secretary General candidate supported by Orbán’s cabinet

Hungary does not support Mark Rutte’s candidacy for NATO secretary general, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Monday, adding that as complete trust was an essential requirement in the alliance, and the Dutch leader had in the past talked about “bringing Hungary to its knees”.

At a press conference held in Tirgu Mures (Marosvásárhely), Szijjártó welcomed that Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, an “eastern candidate” for the post, had emerged.

He said much talk focused on strengthening the alliance’s eastern flank but “it doesn’t occur to anyone that if a threat is from the east, then the secretary general might also be from the east”.

The minister said that in NATO “you even have to die for each other, so it must be led by someone in whom we can trust 100 percent”.

He confirmed that he had a tough debate with his Lithuanian counterpart in Brussels earlier in the day. He insisted that Gabrielius Landsbergis was “one of the most pro-war politicians” among the EU foreign ministers. “No matter how much someone shouts at me … I still favour peace,” he said.

Many were surprised by the Hungarian Foreign Minister’s statement, because despite his minority (Saxon) origin, Iohannis did not defend the interests of Hungarians in Transylvania during his presidency. According to pro-government media Magyar Hírlap, in fact, according to the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD), Klaus Iohannis insulted the human dignity of his fellow Hungarians when he mocked his Social Democratic political opponents by greeting them in Hungarian in 2020, accusing the party of selling out Transylvania.

In 2020, Hunor Kelemen, the President of the Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (RMDSZ), called for Iohannis’s apology for his “hysterical, unworthy of a state president, reminiscent of the violent and dangerous policies of the Greater Romania Party.”

We have witnessed an unprecedented manifestation of misinformation and incitement to hatred against Hungarians from the microphone of the presidential palace in the last thirty years,” the RMDSZ president said.

While one candidate’s long-ago speech seems unforgivable for the Hungarian government, the other candidate’s outburst is acceptable.

• read also: Romanian president fined by Romanian authorities because of anti-Hungarian hate speech – details HERE

Szijjarto highlights ‘exceptional significance’ of EP elections in Hungary, Romania

On Monday, the European parliamentary and municipal elections on June 9 “will be exceptionally important” both in Hungary and Romania, Szijjártó said in Tirgu Mures (Marosvásárhely).

The more MEPs Fidesz and the Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (RMDSZ) have, “the stronger the voice of peace in Brussels will be”, he told a joint press conference with Hunor Kelemen, RMDSZ’s leader.

“Romania and Hungary have lived in the neighbourhood of war for two and a half years… It will not surprise us that we Hungarians want the swiftest possible peace.”

“We Hungarians don’t want to get involved in the war in the neighbourhood … we do not want a nuclear war,” he said.

Szijjártó noted that Hungary and Romania are scheduled to hold their European parliamentary and municipal elections on the same day. “On June 9 we will decide whether we want peace or war, and we will elect the officials to lead local communities,” he said.

Szijjarto said both Fidesz and RMDSZ supported peace and trusted that there would be as many pro-peace deputies in the EP as possible. He said the two parties have an interest in good Hungary-Romania cooperation and that “the stronger RMDSZ is in Romania, the easier it is to build good ties.”

“The stronger representation RMDSZ has in municipalities, the stronger the Hungarian communities will be, and the stronger they are, the stronger and more stable support they can provide for good cooperation between Hungary and Romania,” Szijjártó said, calling on ethnic Hungarian voters in Romania to support RMDSZ.

Szijjarto said he had pledged continued, close cooperation between the Hungarian government and RMDSZ, “in order to build further success stories in bilateral cooperation, especially in the economy. The government will work together with RMDSZ to promote Romania’s long-deserved Schengen entry,” he added.

As we wrote today, Hungarian businessman to own one of Romania’s largest telecoms companies, details HERE.