Hungarian premier invited to the Gaza Board of Peace

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday published a letter from US President Donald Trump, inviting Hungary to the Gaza Board of Peace. Orbán also said he has accepted the invitation.

The aim is hammering out a lasting peace in the region

In his letter, Trump invited Orbán “to join me in a critically Historic and Magnificent effort to solidify Peace in the Middle East and, at the same time, to embark on a bold new approach to resolving Global Conflict!” Trump noted that he presented his peace plan for Gaza in September, which was “quickly embraced by all World Leaders, including major Heads of State across the Arab World, Israel, and Europe.” The UN Security Council announced its support for the plan in November, he said.

“Now it is time to turn all of these Dreams into reality,” Trump said. “At the heart of the Plan is the Board of Peace, the most impressive and consequential Board ever assembled,” set up as a new international institution and a transitional governing body, he said. “Our effort will bring together a distinguished group of nations ready to shoulder the noble responsibility of building LASTING PEACE, an Honor reserved for those who are prepared to lead by example,” Trump said, adding that the board would soon hold its first meeting. Orbán also took part on the first phase of the Middle East peace process in October in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Hungarian premier invited to Gata Board of Peace

As chairman of the board, Trump said he was officially inviting Hungary to join as a founding member, Orban to represent his country, “and become a party to the Charter of the Board of Peace”. All member states would have appoint their representatives to the board themselves, Trump said. The 20-point US peace plan and the charter of the board was also attached to the letter.

“Looking forward to working with you … toward the goal of lasting WORLD PEACE, PROSPERITY AND GREATNESS,” Trump said. In the Facebook post, Orban said: “If there is Trump, there is peace! … Hungary’s peace efforts are recognised! President Trump has asked me to join the work of the Board of Peace as a founder. We naturally accepted the honour,” Orbán said.

While championing lasting peace in the Middle East, Donald Trump stunned the world by floating a bold US bid for Greenland—purely for strategic edge. Yet, not everyone’s on board: some NATO allies are pushing back with Hungary’s tiniest neighbour.

FM Szijjártó: no to Ukraine’s EU accession

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has received an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join the Gaza’s Board of Peace, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in an interview to public radio on Sunday.

Szijjártó said the government considered the invitation an honour and would gladly participate in the board’s work. The prime minister, he added, has instructed him to convey this to the US administration. Hungary, he said, highly respected Trump’s “peace-oriented activities” worldwide, and the US president was a signal of hope as regards the Gaza peace process, too. Hungary, he added, had an interest in peace in the Middle East, as the security situation in the region had a major impact on central European security.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó also said the government would oppose Ukraine’s EU accession. The European Union’s basic treaty clearly and unambiguously stipulates that member states must decide unanimously on admitting new countries, he added. “We, who have governed Hungary for 16 years, have always dared to say ‘no’ to Brussels, and we will say ‘no’ to Ukraine’s membership as well,” he said.

He said the opposition Tisza Party would “agree to everything Brussels demands”, so Ukraine would “bring the war into the European Union”. Two-speed accession, he added, was “a nonsensical trick”, but Brussels knew full well that “as long as there is a sovereign national government in Hungary, Ukraine cannot become an EU member.”

EU tries to meddle in the Hungarian elections

This is why Brussels was interfering in the parliamentary elections in every possible way, he said, insisting it wanted to install “a Brussels puppet government in our place”. The EU, he said, had clearly established rules, yet the European Commission and its president “interprets these rules at will”. This, he added, was a major risk to the future functioning of the EU.

“We have made it clear to the ambassadors of EU member states that we will not tolerate anyone questioning the democratic nature of the election or creating tension by trying to discredit the election…” he said. Szijjártó also addressed the ongoing negotiations between MOL and Serbian oil company NIS regarding its acquisition. As one of the region’s largest energy companies, MOL is negotiating with the Russian majority owner of the Serbian oil company over the sale of the Russian stake and with the minority owner, the Serbian government, on future cooperation.

“An agreement is imminent,” he added, insisting that integrated operation of the oil refineries in Slovakia, Hungary, and Serbia would represent a big step forward for the region’s energy security and pricing.