FM Szijjártó: Rebuilding of Hungary-US ties gives government policy new room for manoeuvre

The rebuilding of relations between Hungary and the United States from the “all-time low” they reached in recent years will give the government’s policies new room for manoeuvre, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Komarno (Révkomárom), in southern Slovakia, on Thursday.

Szijjártó talks about rebuilding relations

The previous US Democratic administration “committed all kinds of offences against Hungary”, Szijjártó said at a podium discussion at Selye János Secondary School, naming the tightening of the ESTA visa system and the termination of the double taxation avoidance treaty as examples. They then “added fuel to the fire” when it came to the war in Ukraine by sending tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, “which only prolonged the conflict”, Szijjártó said, according to a statement by the foreign ministry.

“And anyone who tried to argue for peace was immediately labelled a Putin spy, a friend of Lavrov or a Kremlin propagandist,” Szijjártó added. He welcomed the changes that have happened since, noting that the new US president’s policies were “diametrically opposed” to those of the previous administration, and included the curbing of migration and “aggressive LGBTQ propaganda” and a freeze on foreign aid. European leaders, Szijjártó said, were “fearful” of these kinds of policies, adding, however, that peace would enhance the [European] continent’s economic growth. Hungary alone, he said, had lost 7,500 billion forints (EUR 19bn) due to the sanctions.

He said Hungary and the new US administration shared similar views on the world’s most pressing problems, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Donald Trump had a good personal relationship.

The two countries are therefore committed to rebuilding their relations, the foreign minister said, adding that this would give the Hungarian government’s policies new room for manoeuvre. Szijjártó also mentioned Hungary’s strategy of economic neutrality, which, he said, had allowed the country to become a key meeting point for Eastern and Western investors.

“That’s why I’m hopeful that Donald Trump — as a real dealmaker who has successful business decisions — will be able to strike deals with key global economic players that will ultimately result in major global partnerships rather than trade wars,” he said.

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