Foreign Affairs Ministry of Hungary

Hungary ‘safest location’ for East-West cooperation, says Minister Szijjártó in Beijing

Hungary is “the safest location” for East-West cooperation, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said, addressing the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on Tuesday.

Halfway between Washington and Beijing

“We offer the safest place for Eastern and Western companies to work together in Europe,” Szijjártó said at the fair’s opening, where Hungary is the guest of honor.

He expressed concern over efforts to divide the world into blocs again and said those initiatives were “totally against” Hungary’s national interests. Hungary’s goal, he added, was for connectivity to characterise the coming decades.

He said the hope was for East and West to cooperate in a “civilised manner, based on mutual respect and aiming at mutual benefits.” He outlined the government’s strategy of economic neutrality, adopted in the context of Hungary’s historical experience, with a view to the country’s export-oriented economy and its geographical location halfway between Washington and Beijing.

Szijjártó said the government’s economic neutrality strategy dovetailed with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and provided a stable basis for economic growth.

He said that Hungary was now the “number one” destination for Chinese investments in Europe, noting that CATL was setting up the biggest battery plant on the continent in Hungary while BYD was building a factory that would turn out several hundred thousand EVs a year. He added that more Chinese investments are in the pipeline.

Szijjártó said those Chinese investments supported Hungary’s economic growth, creating jobs, bringing cutting-edge technologies, raising the level of value-added, and shortening supply chains. The government’s strategy of economic neutrality is “the right one,” he said, adding that strengthening cooperation between China and Hungary would produce a “fantastic” year for the Hungarian economy in 2025.

Chinese-Hungarian Collaboration to Connect Eastern and Western Digital Payment Systems

Two major digital payment technology providers, Macau Pass Group Holdings Limited of Macau and Hungary’s Cardnet Group, announced today their strategic alliance to establish the BRIDGE Project.

The BRIDGE Project aims to create a technology platform serving both Asian and European digital payment infrastructures under a shared ecosystem: the Bilateral Retail Interoperability Digital Gateway Ecosystem (BRIDGE). This platform will seamlessly integrate Asian mobile payment systems with European contactless payment networks. By combining the expertise of Macau Pass and Cardnet, the project seeks to simplify and expedite cross-border payment transactions, enable real-time currency conversion, ensure transaction security, and comply with the highest financial, data protection, and security standards.

Macau Pass, a pioneer in Asian digital payment solutions, is a key partner of Ant International, owner of Alipay Plus.

Cardnet, collaborating with other Hungarian financial and technology partners, facilitates connections to European payment networks.

As part of the partnership, the two companies will establish a Central Interoperability Platform (CIP), enabling QR code-based and NFC-based transactions. This platform will cater to Chinese tourists, business travelers, expatriate workers, and European consumers.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, stated that there’s a growing number of Chinese tourists arriving in Hungary. Given that there are 21 flights on a weekly basis from big Chinese cities to Budapest and that many Hungarians are now taking advantage of the visa-free travel for Hungarian citizens to China, tourism in both directions has been increasing.

Minister Szijjártó added:

„I do believe that in case the common payment platform is being established, it is going to be even more attractive to travel into the countries of each other. Therefore, I do believe that the agreement between Macau Pass and Cardnet Group of Hungary is a very important milestone. This agreement makes it possible that a common payment platform is going to be established through which both Chinese and Hungarian citizens can pay much easier with their own payment schemes in the countries of each other. So I do count on the further increase of tourism between China and Hungary.”

Dr. János Kóka, Managing Director of Cardnet Group, said:

“This collaboration positions Hungary as a critical digital transit hub for payment transactions between Chinese and European customers in each other’s countries.”

Sun Ho, Chairman and CEO of Macau Pass Group Holdings Limited, said:

“By bridging the gap between East and West, we are laying the foundation for a truly interconnected global digital payment ecosystem.”

The CEO of Macau’s leading mobile payment platform added that they are honored to partner with Cardnet.

True to its name, the BRIDGE Project aims to build a payment bridge connecting China with the world. The goal is to create a globally significant payment interoperability model and inject new momentum into global digitization processes.

The National Bank of Hungary cooperates with Chinese university

November 26, 2024

UK-owned DS Smith Packaging Hungary to invest EUR 34.4m in expansions

Reinier Schlatmann, Managing Director of DS Smith Packaging East Europe, at the press conference announcing the investment in DS Smith Packaging Hungary Kft. in Budapest on 25 November 2024.

UK-owned DS Smith Packaging Hungary will invest HUF 12.7bn (EUR 34.4m) at three bases in Hungary, boosting production capacity by over 40 pc, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday.

Szijjártó said in a statement issued by his ministry that the investments will be undertaken at bases in Füzesabony, Nagykáta, and Győr.

He noted that UK-owned companies employ around 50,000 people in Hungary, of which DS Smith employs over 1,000.

DS Smith said the EUR 34.4m investment would be completed in April 2026 in a press release.

DS Smith operates eight bases in Hungary: one offset and two corrugated cardboard plants, four service centers, and a central office.

Hungary, Malta sharply oppose re-emergence of blocs in world

Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg visited Budapest for talks with the Hungarian Foreign Minister

Hungary and Malta both oppose the re-emergence of blocs in the world while both support action taken against illegal migration and efforts to boost European competitiveness, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said after meeting his Maltese counterpart on Monday.

According to a ministry statement, at a joint press conference, Szijjártó congratulated Ian Borg on his appointment as deputy prime minister and thanked him for making Hungary the first stop on his list of official foreign visits.

Szijjártó highlighted the importance of dialogue and regular consultations given the current security situation and economic challenges, noting that they identified common points of agreement. “One such point is that we both oppose developments that tend towards the re-emergence of blocs in the world.”

“We Hungarians oppose such developments, based on our own experience, that Hungary has always had the best chance to develop … when cooperation between East and West is civilised and cultured,” said Szijjártó.

He said Hungary and Malta are among the countries with the most open economies in the world, adding that both seek a world of connectivity in the coming years and free-flowing global trade.

The minister said economic growth depended on calm, stability, and predictability, which was possible only in peacetime.

“War creates a poor environment and stymies the smooth functioning of the economy and hampers growth,” he said.

Szijjártó also said neither Malta nor Hungary had shipped weapons to Ukraine.

He welcomed Malta’s continued support for Hungary’s EU presidency and the consensus between the two countries on important issues such as firm measures taken against illegal migration, improving Europe’s competitiveness, integrating Western Balkan countries into the EU and ensuring an effective Schengen zone.

Szijjártó noted that Malta fulfilled an “important international role” as current chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), “the last regional platform of East-West dialogue”.

Regarding cooperation on tourism, Szijjártó said the number of Hungarian visitors to Malta has increased by 40 percent so far this year compared with 2023, while the number of Maltese tourists has risen by 50 percent.

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November 25, 2024

Hungarian foreign minister outrages for US sanctions against Putin’s Gazprombank

The inclusion of Russia’s Gazprombank on a United States sanctions list is an intentional step to jeopardise the secure energy supply of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a post on Facebook on Friday.

“If anybody wants to jeopardise our energy supply security, either with sanctions or by shutting down transit deliveries, we consider it an attack on our energy sovereignty,” Szijjártó said. “We reject any attacks on our sovereignty; we will not bow to pressure and will not give up our national interests,” he added.

Szijjártó said Hungary was working with its partners on a solution and would meet with the energy ministers of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Serbia to discuss the situation in Istanbul on Friday, adding that consultations with Slovakia were also underway.

Regional cooperation condition for ensuring secure energy supply, says FM Szijjártó

Hungary must closely cooperate with Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkiye to find a solution to ensure secure energy supply amid external pressure, Szijjártó said at the Istanbul Energy Forum on Friday.

In a statement issued by his ministry, Szijjártó said secure energy supply was a matter of national security and sovereignty, but also about physical reality, removed from politics or ideologies. He added that energy mixes were for every nation to decide and any interference in that area was politically or economically motivated.

Szijjártó Istanbul energy forum Gazprombank — Photo: FB/Szijjártó

Endangering a country’s secure energy supply with sanctions or by blocking energy deliveries is an attack on national sovereignty, he said. “We reject all such initiatives which are especially heinous when they come without prior notice,” he added.

Szijjártó noted that the United States’ outgoing government had placed Russia’s Gazprombank on a sanctions list, which could pose a challenge for some countries in Central and Southeastern Europe.

“Therefore, we, the countries of the region, must and will closely work together to find a solution to ensure the secure energy supply of our countries amid the changed circumstances, regardless of any external pressure and attacks,” he said. He praised Serbia, Bulgaria and Türkiye for being dependable transit countries for energy deliveries. “We are not ready to swap dependable partners, especially if we haven’t got any better offer,” he added.

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November 23, 2024

Hungarian minister proud that both German and Chinese battery plants are built in Hungary

Hungarian FM Szijjártó thankful for American FDI german chinese battery plants

As part of Hungary’s strategy of “economic neutrality”, German car and Chinese battery plants are being built side by side in Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said in Brussels on Thursday. “This is the way it is, whether people like it or not,” he said.

Szijjártó told a press conference that the government’s strategy based on economic neutrality was a success.

After a meeting of the European Union Council on trade matters, the minister said Hungary was now a hub for investments from the East and West, noting that German car companies producing electric vehicles relied on the Chinese supply of batteries and other components.

“Maybe some don’t like it ideologically, but that’s the way it is,” he said.

He said only 12 EU member states voted to levy tariffs on the Chinese electric car industry “yet the measures will come into force”.

Szijjártó said Europe was “not doing well” in the new world of the economy and politics, and that “connectivity” was preferable to “sanctions, customs duties and restrictions”.

He said Hungary’s embrace of Eastern and Western companies had led to the creation of “tens and hundreds of thousands of jobs” as well as cutting-edge investments in Hungary.

The minister noted that Hungary had entered into “many disputes with other member states and members of the European Commission” over its policy, and “these disputes are here to stay in the future. But, of course, we’ll fight them.”

‘Economic cold war’ would be against EU, Hungary’s interests, says FM Szijjártó

An “economic cold war” would be against the interests of the European Union and Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Brussels on Thursday, adding that sanctions and tariffs had never lived up to expectations, but instead hampered growth.

Szijjártó told a press conference after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council that today’s global trends presented a realistic threat of the outbreak of an “economic cold war” and the re-emergence of geopolitical blocs.

“Over the past months the Hungarian presidency has been working and will continue to work to make sure that the coming period isn’t defined by the formation of blocs but connectivity, meaning … fair international cooperation,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

He said this would guarantee the conditions for improving Europe’s “depressed competitiveness”.

“So we believe the European Union’s, and with it Hungary’s interests lie in the unimpeded operation of the global economy and global trade,” he said. This, he said, required free trade deals, adding however that the bloc had work to do in this regard, with talks having been ongoing on six such deals for 13 years on average and suspended on ten others.

“We believe that tariffs, restrictions and sanctions have never lived up to expectations and have severely hampered economic growth,” the minister said.

Hungary wants to keep the unanimity requirement

Meanwhile, he said several member states have called for the introduction of new tariffs against Russia and Belarus, adding that the European Commission has begun taking steps on the initiative. “We Hungarians consider this initiative seriously concerning and dangerous given that there hasn’t been any kind of comprehensive analysis of the impact of the 11 sanctions packages introduced so far,” he said.

“And we certainly don’t want any member state to introduce tariffs in order to bypass the requirement of unanimity which has to be met in the case of sanctions,” he added.

Szijjártó noted that member states have veto power when it comes to the introduction of sanctions in the event that a given sanction violates their national security or economic interests, and Hungary has exercised this right multiple times.

He warned that bypassing the unanimity requirement with the introduction of tariffs would be harmful, expressing concern over proposals to introduce tariffs on energy sources, which, he said, the Hungarian government considered “unacceptable”.

“We reject this sort of elimination of the unanimity requirement and ask the European Commission to consider each member state’s national security and economic interests when conducting the preliminary analysis of such a measure,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, he said the election of Donald Trump as the next US president created “completely new geopolitical and global economic conditions”.

“And if someone doesn’t realise this and buries their head in the sand and pretends that nothing’s happening, they can lose out big on such a huge change,” he warned.

“That’s why we think a new strategy is needed here in Europe as well,” Szijjártó said. “A new strategy is needed so that the European Union doesn’t end up as the loser in the triangle of the United States, the European Union and China.”

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November 22, 2024

Hungary stands firm on Russian energy: FM Szijjártó defends sovereignty amid EU criticism

Sergey Lavrov and Péter Szijjártó Russian energy

The state will only relinquish a reliable and competitively priced energy source if a better deal is on offer, and so far none is available to replace Russian energy, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Thursday.

Hungary insists that the composition of its energy mix should remain an exclusive national competence, the ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying at a press conference after a European Union council meeting on trade affairs in Brussels.

“So we reject any attempt to influence how, from where and from whom we buy energy,” he said.

“It is a matter of national security and sovereignty. The security of energy supplies is a part of national security, and we will not accept any interference in discussions of energy security issues,” he added.

Szijjártó expressed satisfaction with energy cooperation with Russia. “I can only talk about my own experiences rather than others’, and I also expect others not to talk about mine.”

“Our experience is that Russia is a reliable supplier. We have always received the contracted volume, we have always received it at the agreed price and at the agreed time,” he added.

“Some of those who proudly beat their chest about how they are phasing out Russian energy still buy the energy in a roundabout way,” Szijjártó said.

He said sanctions policy was marked by “great hypocrisy”. “We are constantly getting a pounding here in Brussels for not disconnecting ourselves from Russian energy… But if you look at how Russian LNG supplies have been increasing, then you can see that, for instance, France has increased its Russian LNG imports by 110 percent in six months. Some 87 percent of Russian LNG arriving in Western Europe goes to France, Belgium and Spain,” he added.

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November 21, 2024

Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó: More people in Europe becoming reasonable about illegal migration

While more and more in Europe are discussing illegal migration with the voice of reason, it is clear that the “Brussels elite” continues to support migration and is trying to put pressure on member states, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Szijjártó meets with Morten Messerschmidt

Budapest and Copenhagen share a number of positions concerning illegal migration, “the gravest security challenge facing Europe”, Szijjártó said after talks with the leader of the Danish People’s Party and Denmark’s immigration minister.

“There’s been an intense debate about this in the Western world for 9-10 years now,” Szijjártó said. “It’s clear that some elections are even decided by the issue of migration,” he added, noting that immigration had been a key issue in the US presidential election campaign, “and it was won by the candidate who put his country’s security first and spoke clearly about the dangers of illegal immigration”.

Szijjártó said that the deterioration of Europe’s security situation was clearly linked to “the emergence of mass migrant waves”.

Noting Hungary’s opposition to migration, he said there was “no question in Hungary that the security of the Hungarian people is the number one consideration”.

He noted that the Hungarian government has spent more than 2 billion euros on the protection of the country’s southern border over the last nine years, thwarting some 630,000 illegal entry attempts.

Had Hungary not done this and instead “given in to Brussels, there would be hundreds of thousands or millions more illegal migrants in Europe today”, and Hungarians, too, would have to be living together with them, the minister said.

“We Hungarians consider it outrageous that that while we’re protecting the European Union’s external borders, our own security and that of and Europeans, we’re ordered to pay a million euros a day to Brussels as a financial sanction,” he said, referring to a fine the EU court instructed Hungary to pay for refusing to implement several of the bloc’s migration rules.

“Were it up to Brussels and Hungarian opposition politicians supporting Brussels, Hungary would be flooded by illegal migrants,” Szijjártó said, insisting that Brussels wanted to “install a puppet government in Hungary” so that illegal migrants could enter the country.

He praised Denmark’s “rational migration policy”, underlining that the two countries were in agreement on the need to bolster the protection of the EU’s external borders.

Szijjártó urged the launch of major development schemes in migrant-sending African countries with a view to eliminating the root causes of migration.

“Economic, health-care and education development schemes are needed, because Africa’s population is projected to increase by almost a billion in the next 20-25 years,” he said.

He noted that Hungary has spent more than half a billion euros on developments in Africa over the past five years and offers higher-education scholarships to 1,835 African students each year.

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November 19, 2024

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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November 18, 2024

Hungarian FM Szijjártó: ‘Pro-war mainstream launches final attack against new reality’

szijjártó environmental standards battery plants

The foreign minister Szijjártó said on Monday that “the pro-war mainstream in Washington and Brussels have launched a final, bitter attempt against the new reality.”

Szijjártó: “we must stop efforts towards escalation in Brussels”

“A pro-peace candidate’s victory in America and patriotic forces forging ahead in Europe have created a new reality based on the will of voters,” Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook.

“They have decided to support pro-peace, patriotic forces, but the pro-war politicians voted out of power will not accept the people’s will either in Washington or in Brussels,” the minister said. He added that it was “not only anti-democratic but extremely dangerous, too.”

“The pro-war forces in their despair seem not to be deterred from the worst: escalating the war in Ukraine into a global conflict,” he said.

Referring to an upcoming meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the first since the US presidential election, Szijjártó said “it will be a tough fight; we must stop efforts towards escalation in Brussels, too.”

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November 18, 2024

Will Romania have a Hungarian president from 2024?

Transylvanian Hungarians have the means to have strong representation in Romania and to ensure that the decisions made about them are not made without them, the foreign minister said in Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda) at a campaign event of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) on Friday.

Péter Szijjártó attended a podium discussion in the company of RMDSZ leader and presidential candidate Hunor Kelemen.

He said Hungarian-Romanian relations had improved and Romania benefited from RMDSZ having been in government, as also stated by several of his Romanian negotiating partners.

“I felt a great change in Romanian political attitude towards Hungary when it became clear here in Romanian society that RMDSZ had stabilised the functioning of Romanian government and politics,” Szijjártó said. “It offered excellent professional performance in areas where it provided a minister, a boss, leaders, with Romania clearly performing well in those areas, and the Romanian people profiting from it. And we give credit to Romanian politicians for not only recognising this, but also starting to talk about it.”

Commenting on the mechanism of developing policies for ethnic Hungarians abroad, he said that the government in Budapest did not want to say what’s good for ethnic Hungarians abroad. After representatives of ethnic Hungarian communities say what type of help they want from the mother country, it is the Hungarian government’s “plain duty” to fulfil the requests and expectations the best they can, he added. As a result, even under the circumstances of war, sanctions and inflation, the government did not allow support for ethnic Hungarians abroad to fall victim to the protective anti-inflation measures, he said.

Economic development programmes have also been initiated by ethnic Hungarian representatives abroad, he said. The government has so far supported 6,084 SMEs with 85 billion forints (EUR 208.6m), enabling investments totalling 170 billion forints in areas with ethnic Hungarian communities, he added.

“I believe that part of the Romanian political elite understands that this is a win-win situation, jobs being created and taxes getting paid here, supply possibilities expanding, and I believe it is a good way to strengthen the nation, parts of the nation, and strengthen cooperation between the country of residence and the mother country,” Szijjártó said.

Kelemen reaffirmed that it depended on the ethnic Hungarian community if RMDSZ was “in the playing field” and he asked them to vote for the ethnic Hungarian candidates on November 24 and December 1.

Strong RMDSZ in ‘whole nation’s interest’, says Szijjártó

The better result the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party achieves at Romania’s general election, the better Hungarian-Romanian cooperation and the life of ethnic Hungarians will be, Szijjártó said in Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda) on Friday, adding that “the best possible result for RMDSZ is in the interest of the nation as a whole.”

At a press conference held jointly with Hunor Kelemen, RMDSZ’s candidate for Romanian president, Szijjártó said ensuring the best possible cooperation between Hungary and Romania and improving the living standards of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian community were two of Hungarian foreign policy’s important goals.

He said there was “a good chance” that RMDSZ would perform as well in Romania’s next legislative and presidential elections as it had in the European Parliament and local elections earlier this year.

Szijjártó said Romania’s full Schengen membership, increasing the number of crossing facilities along the Hungary-Romania border, and promotion of the Hungarian government’s economic programme would be among the top priorities in the coming period.

He added that during the remainder of Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, the government “will leave no stone unturned” to ensure Romania’s accession to Schengen.

Hungary, he added, wanted to begin work on five new border crossing points between the two countries as soon as possible.

“We’re also making preparations together for two new motorway links,” the minister said. “We’re preparing the construction of a new bridge at Magyarcsanad and a road border crossing at Kubekhaza. And I have signed an agreement with your transport minister on preparations for a Szeged-Timisoara rail line.”

Concerning the continuation of the economic development scheme, Szijjártó said the government has so far supported 6,000 businesses, generating 170 billion forints (EUR 417.2m) worth of investments.

“We are ready to build an even closer cooperation with Romania,” Szijjártó said, adding that he hoped RMDSZ would be part of the next Romanian government.

Kelemen said RMDSZ could only promote the security and survival of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian community if it had parliamentary and, if possible, governmental means to do so, for which it needed the support of Transylvanian Hungarians.

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November 16, 2024

Safety in Hungary exceptional in Europe, says foreign minister

Surprising tourist opinions about Hungary, Budapest and the Orbán cabinet safety

Safety in Hungary, including in Budapest, is exceptional in the whole of Europe, as demonstrated by recent events, such as a soccer match in the Netherlands last week, the foreign minister said on Friday.

The ministry cited Péter Szijjártó telling a podium discussion that foreign visitors in Budapest greatly appreciated the safety of Budapest.

“European events of the recent period, such as a soccer match in the Netherlands or the soccer match they did not dare hold in Belgium all demonstrate that from this aspect Budapest, and the whole of Hungary, is truly exceptional in Europe,” he said.

He added that the only area where had had experienced negative changes in the recent period was public hygiene. Additionally, he said that in other cities cycle lanes had been allocated without narrowing down the space for car traffic.

Among the Budapest highlights he mentioned were the Puskás Aréna, the children’s railway, and the Elisabeth lookout tower.

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November 15, 2024

According to FM Szijjártó, there is no threat to Hungarian minority language rights in Slovakia

Dialogue between Hungary and Slovakia on Slovakia’s planned language law is constant at every level, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Thursday, adding that Bratislava had made it clear that it does not want to restrict minority language use.

The policy for Hungarian communities abroad is one of the heartfelt priorities of Hungary’s foreign policy, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Slovak counterpart Juraj Blanár, according to a ministry statement. He added that the government attached great importance to the fate of Slovakia’s ethnic Hungarian community.

Concerning Slovakia’s planned state language law, Szijjártó said the country’s most senior officials had made it clear “that they do not wish to restrict minority language-use rights”. He hailed bilateral relations as a “success story”, noting that Slovakia has become Hungary’s second most important trading partner, with annual trade turnover having stabilised around 15 billion euros.

He welcomed that the two countries now have 40 border crossing points compared with just 22 in 2010. Szijjártó said Hungary and Slovakia ensured each other’s “physical, energy and economic security”. As regards physical security, he said the two countries helped each other combat illegal migration, and Hungary and Czechia patrol Slovakia’s airspace.

“In terms of energy supply, we have shared interests when it comes to the purchase of crude oil and natural gas,” Szijjártó said. “We’ve made it clear that we don’t want to cut off deliveries from the east because … that would gravely endanger both countries’ energy supply.” He also said that while many experts had thought it unnecessary to build the natural gas interconnector linking Hungary and Slovakia, the strategic importance of connecting the two countries’ energy grids “quickly became clear”. Szijjártó also highlighted the role of Slovak firms in the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said the two governments are preparing another agreement on the development of cross-border infrastructure, including the construction of new bridges, roads and rail links.

On another subject, he said the outcome of the US presidential election had brought about a “completely new political reality”, and there was “a greater chance than ever before for peace to return to central Europe”. He also said that Hungarian-Slovak cooperation based on mutual respect was ensured with “patriotic governments in power on both sides of the Danube”. In response to a question, Szijjártó slammed the European left’s handling of Olivér Várhelyi’s candidacy for the post of EU health commissioner as “pathetic political theatre”.

“Olivér Várhelyi did an excellent job at his confirmation hearing, and it is solely for petty political reasons that the European left is messing around with the Hungarian commissioner candidate,” Szijjártó said. “Unfortunately this phenomenon isn’t anything new, as the left joined forces in excluding the Patriots for Europe group from any leadership positions in the European Parliament.”

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November 14, 2024

Hungary calls for stronger Visegrád cooperation and economic integration at V4 Business Conference

Hungary is ready to develop further the successful cooperation among the Visegrád Group — Hungary, Czechia, Poland and Slovakia — and strengthen trade and economic ties, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a conference in Budapest on Thursday.

Addressing the Visegrád 4 Business Conference, Szijjártó called V4 cooperation an “important element” of Hungary’s foreign policy strategy, his ministry said in a statement. He added that the V4 had improved the positions of its members on the European stage.

He warned against initiatives in the EU to decouple the economies of the East and the West and pointed to the V4’s earlier negative experience with blocs. Isolation can cause “serious damage” to Europe’s economy, he said, adding that Hungary was an advocate for connectivity and had adopted a policy of economic neutrality.

He said Hungary had become a “meeting point” for investments from the East and the West and was home to manufacturing bases of all three premium German car brands and five of the ten biggest Asian battery makers.

He said the V4 should concentrate on “pragmatic issues” and noted that Slovakia was now Hungary’s second-biggest trade partner, while Poland was the third-biggest and Czechia the sixth-biggest.

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November 14, 2024

Hungarian FM Szijjártó highlights strict environmental standards for battery plants in Parliament hearing

Hungarian authorities require battery manufacturers to comply with the strictest environmental regulations, just as in other sectors, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a hearing of parliament’s sustainable development committee on Wednesday.

Battery plants must comply with regulations ensuring manufacturing activities pose no health risks, Szijjártó said, while highlighting the importance of protecting farmland and the water base, too. He added that battery manufacturing was “indispensable” for the electromobility transition and achieving climate goals.

Szijjártó dismissed “fake news” concerning the upgrade of the Paks nuclear power plant and said the first preliminary safety report on the investment was under evaluation by the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. He acknowledged the importance of keeping the temperature of water in the Danube, which is used for cooling at the plant, within the allowed thresholds, but noted that the Paks NPP had originally been planned for six, rather than four, blocks.

Szijjártó said an agreement with China on cooperation in the area of nuclear energy had “nothing to do” with uranium mining or storage of spent fuel. Rather it concerns new technology: small modular reactors, he added.

He said Hungary was getting 4.5bn cubic metres of gas a year under an agreement from Russia. The government signs supplementary commercial contracts from time to time to ensure that gas is purchased at a competitive price, he added.

He noted that Hungary had started taking delivery of Azeri and Turkish gas this year in the interest of diversification. Talks are underway on buying Qatari LNG, he added.

He said capacity for delivery of gas from southeastern Europe was “not close to sufficient” and complained that the European Commission was not willing to contribute to expanding that capacity.

Szijjártó said Hungary’s economic cooperation with China was a “great opportunity” for economic growth and pointed to the dependence of branches of industry in Western Europe on Chinese products and technologies.

He added that he believed Donald Trump would also strive to reach an agreement with Beijing.

Szijjártó said 110,000-120,000 guest workers from non-EU countries were in Hungary at present, but there were still 70,000 unfilled positions. Efforts must to be made to fill all positions with Hungarians, but where that isn’t possible, foreigners need to be allowed to work, temporarily and within a regulated framework, he added.

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November 13, 2024

Slovakia assures Hungary that the new Slovak language law will not curtail Hungarian minority rights

Hungary Assured New Slovak Language Law Won't Limit Hungarian Minority Rights

Slovakia’s parliamentary speaker has “clearly reaffirmed” that a planned new language law will not restrict national minorities’ right to use their mother tongue, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Bratislava on Monday.

As we wrote earlier, the New Slovak bill would ban Hungarian language use on trains, buses, trams, and post offices, details HERE.

According to a ministry statement, Szijjártó said after talks with Slovak parliamentary speaker Peter Ziga that Hungary’s government attaches great importance to the fate of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia. Therefore, the government welcomes Slovakia’s view of the ethnic Hungarian community as an asset in advancing bilateral relations, he added.

“I received clear confirmation today from the speaker that the planned new language law regulation won’t endanger the right of national minorities on Slovakia’s territory to use their mother tongue,” Szijjártó said. He pointed out that he has worked together with Ziga for eight years and even considered him a friend, adding that he “cannot remember a single time when something didn’t pan out the way he said it would”.

Szijjártó said he and Ziga had agreed to stay in contact regarding any legislative process concerning language regulations. “So if either of us perceives a problem … we will talk promptly and take steps together,” he said.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia was the most successful it had ever been. He noted the contributions to each other’s physical and energy supply security, the Hungarian air force’s help in policing Slovakia’s airspace, and bilateral cooperation in the supply of crude oil.

“We are prepared to develop our ties further and to build more bridges over the Danube and the Ipoly,” he said.

Ziga said neither the Slovak government nor parliament wanted to change the status quo regarding national minority rights.

Instead, he said, they wanted to place even greater emphasis on improving living standards of ethnic Hungarians in southern Slovakia, mainly when it came to transport infrastructure.

Ziga underlined that the language bill’s text had yet to be finalised and would be subject to inter-ministry and government consultations before it was put to a vote in parliament.

November 11, 2024

Hungary is the ‘safest part’ in Europe, the Hungarian government believes

Budapest tourism Hungary coronavirus basilica

Central Europe, including Hungary, is “the safest part of the continent”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook on Saturday.

The minister insisted that “recently only those have denied that fact for whom it was extremely inconvenient”. “But this week reality came across,” he said referring to “openly raging anti-Semitism” in the Netherlands when “Israeli football fans were “being chased” in the street.

“Just think of the statements the cawing liberal mainstream could have made … should developments ten times less serious had happened in the central part of Europe!” the minister suggested.

Szijjártó noted that Israel’s national eleven had chosen Hungary as a safe country to play in. “The situation is clear: western Europe has been flooded by migrants but Hungary will not be their destination; here is another proof that we have been correct.”

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November 10, 2024

More Hungarian citizens evacuated from Lebanon, says Hungarian FM Szijjártó

Hungary has carried out another successful evacuation operation during which eight Hungarian and four foreign citizens left Lebanon on an aircraft of the Hungarian armed forces, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Saturday in Budapest.

One hundred Hungarian citizens are currently registered for consular protection in Lebanon, while the Beirut foreign mission has 210 people in its sights, most of whom live permanently in the country, Péter Szijjártó said.

“We have already offered the possibility of a full evacuation to Hungarians living and staying in Lebanon four times. I continue to ask Hungarians not to go to the Middle East unless they have a very compelling reason, because apparently the security situation is changing minute by minute, and unfortunately these changes are not for the better, but for the worse,” he said.

Szijjártó noted that in addition to the evacuation operation, the government also carried out a successful humanitarian operation in Beirut, delivering critical donations to their Lebanese partners to support displaced people, including members of the Lebanese Christian community.

“Everything that happens in the Middle East fundamentally affects global security. That is why we are concerned about everything that is happening in Lebanon, and we sincerely hope that the armed operations that have spread into Lebanon will not mean the spread of the crisis to the entire region,” the minister said.

Szijjártó said that it must also be clearly seen that hundreds of thousands and millions of people in Lebanon are not to be blamed about the attack that terrorist organizations committed against Israel, so the suffering of the innocent must be stopped.

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November 10, 2024

Orbán and Trump are ‘extremely close’ allies, the Hungarian government believes

Viktor Orbán Donald Trump Danube Institute

Hungary has never had such a strong and undisputable ally than Donald Trump who after being elected the next US president was to call Viktor Orbán first among European leaders on Wednesday, the communications director of the Fidesz-Christian Democrats said.

Trump and Orbán are extremely close allies

Donald Trump has become president of the United States, Menczer said, the man who referred to Orban as “a leader who defends his country” many times during his election campaign.

He noted on Facebook that the biggest-ever two diplomatic events in Hungary’s history were taking place in Budapest on Thursday and Friday, with the leaders of Europe discussing the issue of the continent’s security and ways of enhancing its competitiveness. “They are doing so aware of the fact that the new US president and the Hungarian prime minister are extremely close allies,” said Menczer, adding that the Ukrainian president, too, considered it important to travel to Budapest.

Donald Trump Viktor Orbán — Photo: FB/OrbánViktor

Europe ‘more, bigger than EU’

Europe is “more and bigger than the European Union”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Thursday, calling for closer cooperation on the continent.

Szijjártó held talks with his North Macedonian, Georgian, Monegasque, Armenian, San Marino and Turkish counterparts on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

He pointed out that they were all foreign ministers of non-EU countries, which meant that “Europe is more, Europe is bigger than the European Union.”

He said Europe’s security and competitiveness had declined in the recent period, and there was “more than one correct way” to improve the situation.

“One of these, no doubt, is that the European Union should be enlarged and should establish much closer and more coordinated cooperation with European countries that are not EU members,” Szijjarto said.

The key phrase is respectful cooperation

He said the EU was giving up significant growth potential by not admitting new members, not deepening ties with the Caucasus countries and by having failed to build “respectful cooperation” with Türkiye.

“And the European Union will continue to lose much more in the future as well unless it can become a real and full European integration,” he added.

“A policy of respect and openness is needed instead of a policy of closing ourselves off, getting offended and lecturing others,” the minister said.

Szijjártó said it was “unacceptable” that the Western Balkan countries have been waiting for the possibility of EU membership for an average of 15 years, and certain countries have been waiting 10 years to sign an association agreement. He said the EU should not apply “double standards” by rejecting countries in the east of Europe that elect “conservative, patriotic governments”.

“We hope this message will get through here at the European Political Community summit today,” he added.

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November 9, 2024