Hungarian minister travelled to China to talk about peace in Ukraine

Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, will hold talks in Beijing on Monday with his schedule including “critically important topics” to be discussed.

In a post on Facebook, the minister said a major topic to be discussed is the Ukraine-Russia war. In this context, the foreign minister said efforts towards bringing about peace were of particular significance. Hungary supports the peace plan put forward by China, for two reasons, he said. “One is that the plan is about peace. The other is that the plan as such does exist,” Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó said another topic to focus on was Europe-China ties. Hungary does not want those ties to sour, he said, adding that “we consider China not as a country posing a risk, but one with which cooperation can offer us enormous opportunities”. A western-eastern (Europe-China) economic cooperation may yield a division of labour that could benefit both sides, the foreign minister said, making reference to Hungary that has become “an integration point” of western-European and Chinese investments.

In connection with the topic of the European automotive industry, Szijjártó said that “it is clear to us that the European automotive industry cannot successfully make a transformation into producing electric vehicles without the participation of Chinese suppliers”. He said that global efforts to combat climate change could not be successful without “putting transportation on a new, electric base”. During his visit, the Hungarian foreign minister will hold talks with Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and the CEOs of several major companies, among others.