Hungarian FM: Suspending EU-Israel political dialogue ‘would be mistake’

Suspending political dialogue between the European Union and Israel would be “a serious mistake”, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Brussels on Monday, arguing that to do so would be to abandon hope for a peaceful settlement of the crisis in the Middle East.

Szijjártó against suspending EU-Israel political dialogue

At a press conference held on the sidelines of the European Union’s foreign affairs council meeting, Szijjártó commented on a proposal made by Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign-policy chief, to suspend political dialogue with Israel within the framework of the EU-Israel Association Council.

“It’s a bit like saying that if we’ve failed once, let’s quickly try again just in case we can fail again,” the foreign minister said.

The bloc’s Ukraine strategy, he said, had failed because the focus was not on keeping diplomatic channels, dialogue and negotiations open but on thwarting these possibilities.

Further escalation of the crisis in the Middle East would not only cost human lives but also churn up global security, he said.

Referring to “talk of new sanctions”, Szijjártó said that since the October 7 “evil attack” on Israel, the EU had sought punitive measures against 18 Hamas terrorists as well as 14 Israeli settlers, “which just goes to show how Brussels sees the situation”.

Meanwhile, the minister said Georgia had come under “an unbelievable political attack” at the meeting. “It looks like our Western friends can’t forgive the Georgians for choosing a conservative, patriotic, pro-peace government,” he said.

Szijjártó said Georgians had given the ruling party “a decisive victory with 54 percent support, which rarely happens anywhere in Europe except in Hungary.”

According to Westerners, Georgians “have the right to choose their own future” as long as “it coincides with the will of the liberal mainstream”.

He said Hungary fully supported Georgia in their European integration efforts, “and we stand four-square behind Georgia”.

Answering a journalist’s question, Szijjártó said Borrell’s actions could not be assessed independently of the European Commission and its president, who were responsible for the strong deterioration of the bloc’s security and competitiveness.

The minister said that five years ago Europe had no war, it had the second largest economy in the world, it was competitive and there were no obstacles barring cooperation with the fastest developing regions of the world.

“Five years ago, Europe was taken seriously…” he said.

The current commission had managed to diminish the bloc’s strengths and the commission’s president and foreign representative bore responsibility for the state of affairs, he said, expressing hope that “change will soon come with regard to those positions”.

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