Hungary’s foreign minister said in New York on Thursday that the international community had to make sure that no country takes unilateral steps putting the safe energy supply of another country at risk.
The foreign ministry cited Péter Szijjártó as saying at the UN General Assembly’s session focusing on sustainable energy that meeting the radically increasing global demand for electricity was one of the world’s important challenges today. He underlined that the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes guaranteed a “good platform” for East-West cooperation, noting the expansion of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant as an excellent example of cooperation among several countries.
Hungary rejects all initiatives which are aimed at negative discrimination against nuclear energy which lack any scientific approach, any kind of fact-based approach, he said, calling them “clearly and purely ideological attacks”. He noted that Hungary was investing in increasing nuclear capacity in a way to guarantee a safe supply of electricity, ensure low energy prices, protect the environment and make Hungary independent and protected against the volatility of international energy markets.
“Hungary rejects and considers it totally unacceptable if any country makes unilateral steps to interfere in the composition of the energy mix of another country…or puts the safe energy supply of another country at risk,” he said, adding that “all countries must refrain from such steps”. “The safe supply of energy is a matter of national security, and matter of national sovereignty as well,” said the minister. Unilateral steps by any country putting the safe energy supply of another country at risk should be considered as an attack on national sovereignty,” he added.
He called it highly important that the international community makes sure that no country makes unilateral steps putting the safe energy supplies of another country at risk.
“At the end of the Hungarian EU presidency we made yet another effort for peace,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an entry posted on X on Wednesday evening.
Orbán proposes Christmas ceasefire
“We proposed a Christmas ceasefire and a significant exchange of prisoners of war. Regrettably, Ukrainian President Zelensky point-blank rejected this (proposal) … We have done what we were able to,” Orbán wrote.
Prior to the post, Zelensky voiced resentment that Orban had made a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky said peace and security in his country required “decidedness by the US, unity in Europe, and commitment by all partners in line with the United Nations Charter, its objectives and principles”. “No one should boost (their) personal image at the expense of unity” but focus on Europe’s common success, Zelensky said. “There can be no discussions about the war that Russia wages against Ukraine without Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
“We all hope that PM Viktor Orbán at least won’t call Assad in Moscow to listen to his hour-long lectures as well,” the Ukrainian president added.
The United Nations should initiate admission of the right to national identity among the latest generation of universal human rights, László Kövér, Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly, said in Budapest on Thursday, addressing the Interparliamentary Conference on Cultural Heritage and the Identity of National Communities.
The right to national identity, which Hungary’s parliament included in a resolution in June 2022, is the right of every person to freely inherit their mother tongue and culture from their ancestors and to freely pass it on to their children, Kövérsaid.
Photo: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
This could be a useful legal tool for the protection of general human dignity, which could strengthen ethnic peace, security and stability, not only in the Carpathian Basin or Europe, but everywhere in the world, Kövér told the conference held on 4-5 December as the closing event in the series of parliamentary events linked to the Hungarian EU presidency.
Implementing this proposal could advance the provision of human rights and the strengthening of democracy across the world, and in Europe, it would strengthen not only ethnic minorities, but the cooperation of European nation-states and thereby the European Union, the Speaker said.
UPDATE: Hungary to return to a sustainable growth path, says Kövér
The government’s new economic policies will set Hungary on a sustainable growth path, Laszlo Kover, the speaker of parliament, said on a campaign stop on Thursday in Janoshalma, in southern Hungary, to promote the National Consultation public survey, adding that annual growth of 3-6 percent could be expected going forward. This would be “at least twice the average growth of the European Union”, he said, adding that Hungary would continue on the path towards catching up with the rest of Europe.
The wage agreement struck in recent weeks would help average pay to reach 1 million forints within the foreseeable future, he said. Mass tourism has put upward pressure on house prices, he noted, so many Hungarians, especially young people in Budapest, cannot afford their own homes, adding that the budget also promotes cheap housing.
Kover also emphasised the importance of preserving the purchasing value of pensions and retirement benefits, especially the 13th month pension. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized enterprises, making up more than two-thirds of the economy, deserved support for recapitalisation, if needed, to undergird their growth prospects. With these measures Hungary would return to a sustainable growth path, he concluded.
Hungarian soldiers serving abroad deserve recognition for performing their duties successfully, while Hungary is committed to maintaining its contribution to the UN peacekeeping missions in the future, Chief of Staff Colonel General Gábor Böröndi said after being briefed on the security situation in Cyprus and Lebanon by the army’s commander, Zoltán Kaszab.
Böröndi, who served in Cyprus in 1997-98, said Hungarian soldiers were serving in an exemplary way at UN headquarters in Nicosia and were making a big contribution towards ensuring the conflict moved towards a resolution, “though this takes time”, according to a ministry statement.
Meanwhile, at the UNIFILheadquarters in Naqoura, Lebanon, the Hungarian chief of staff met Hungarian commanders.
Böröndi and Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky. Illustration. Photo: MTI
He noted that Hungarian soldiers had recently spent more than 600 hours in a shelter in Lebanon, “a sign of quite how dangerous the place they are serving in is”, adding that morale was good and the soldiers appreciated the care of their superiors and the gifts, including packages sent by their loved ones, that have been sent to them ahead of the upcoming holidays.
The soldiers serving in Lebanon deserved special respect, he said, noting they were working in “an extremely complex and challenging environment” in the midst of the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is currently subject to a ceasefire.
Böröndi also talked with the Lebanese army chief, Lieutenant General Joseph Aoun. The Hungarian Defence Forces have been participating in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since 2006, mainly seeing to patrols and guard duties.
Illustration. Photo: MTI
Hungarian servicemen have also taken part in the UN Cyprus mission (UNFICYP) since 1993.
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Panama has officially suspended diplomatic relations with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), marking a significant blow to the pro-independence movement represented by SADR and the Polisario Front. The decision, confirmed in a statement by the Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reflects a shift in the country’s foreign policy stance on the Western Sahara issue.
Panama’s Official Statement
The Government of Panama announced the suspension of relations with SADR “within the framework of the applicable rules of international law.” The official statement emphasized Panama’s commitment to placing its national interest first while adhering to the principles of multilateralism and international cooperation.
The statement reaffirmed Panama’s support for efforts led by the United Nations Secretary-General and the international community to achieve a “peaceful, just, lasting, and mutually acceptable solution” for the Western Sahara conflict. This includes the principle of self-determination for the Sahrawi people, but only as part of a broader agreement acceptable to all parties involved.
Panama also highlighted its role as a “mediating country,” committed to fostering dialogue and multilateral cooperation in alignment with its foreign policy goals to promote international peace and security.
Dissociation from SADR and a Shift in Policy
Panama’s decision to dissociate from SADR reflects its alignment with the United Nations framework for resolving the Western Sahara conflict. This move distances Panama from the Polisario Front, which advocates for a referendum on Sahrawi independence. While Panama does not dismiss the possibility of such a referendum, it stresses that any decision must be reached through consensus among all stakeholders.
According to Atalayar, this suspension marks a major shift, as Panama was historically the first country to recognize SADR and even hosted its first Latin American embassy in 1980. The withdrawal of Panama’s support erodes SADR’s longstanding diplomatic foundation in the region, delivering a significant setback to its pro-independence cause.
Implications for Morocco and the Western Sahara Dispute
The suspension of Panama’s relations with SADR is seen as a diplomatic victory for Morocco, which asserts sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of its southern provinces. Morocco has proposed an Autonomy Plan for the region, granting substantial self-governance to Sahrawi authorities under Moroccan sovereignty. This plan has garnered international backing from over 100 countries, including key powers such as the United States, France, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. These nations view the Autonomy Plan as the most credible and pragmatic solution to the decades-long dispute.
A Shift in the Regional Balance
Panama’s decision to sever ties with SADR reinforces Morocco’s position on the international stage and signals a decline in SADR’s influence, particularly in Latin America. As more countries align with Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, the pro-independence movement faces increasing diplomatic isolation.
This development highlights the evolving dynamics of the Western Sahara dispute and underscores the growing support for Morocco’s vision of resolving the conflict under the framework of UN resolutions.
Climate policy should be guided by common sense, rather than ideology, alarmism or panic, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Baku on Tuesday, addressing COP29, the annual UN conference on climate change.
PM Orbán talks about climate policy
Speaking among more than 40 heads of state and government, Orbán thanked Azeri President Ilham Aliyev for hosting the event. Azerbaijan is a key partner of Europe in reaching its climate goals, and an ideal place to hold the conference, he said.
MTI/Azertac
Orbán noted that Hungary held summits of the European Political Community and the European Council last week, where EU leaders adopted a declaration on competitiveness that will shape the EU’s approach to climate issues.
“Our mission is to make Europe more competitive, and we approach climate protection with this vision in our mind,” Orbán said. Hungary is proud to have improved its economic performance while cutting emissions in recent years, he said.
“We cannot sacrifice our industry or our agriculture in this process. We must continue advancing the green transition while also maintaining our use of natural gas, oil and nuclear energy. The price of climate change should not be paid by our farmers, the backbone of our economy and society,” the Hungarian PM said. “We cannot impose unrealistic quotas or burdensome rules on farmers and companies, but should offer practical support for them.”
Green transition and the fight against climate change should be conducted in cooperation with the business community, rather than opposed to it, Orbán said. “We need clear financial guarantees and significant investment, large companies must contribute their fair share to climate protection.”
Regarding Hungary’s achievements, Orbán said the country was vying for an important role in the development of electric vehicles and electricity storage. Hungary is further investing in its already robust nuclear industry, increasing it to meet 70 percent of the country’s electricity demand, he said.
“Geographically, we play a key role in energy transit between East and West,” the Hungarian PM said. Meanwhile, Hungary boasts the lowest utility prices for households in Europe and it has also posted one of the largest increases in the use of green energy, he added.
Hungary is also a leader of economically sustainable climate protection, ranking fourth among EU countries in reducing carbon emissions for unit of energy produced, he said.
Looking ahead, the country aims to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030, Orbán said.
“I firmly believe that by working together, we can balance ambition with pragmatism, establishing Europe as a global leader in climate action, in compromise with the prosperity of our agriculture and industry,” Orbán said.
International politics must return to mutual respect and diplomacy must take centre stage again, as only that can lead to the end of the war in Ukraine, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, told a session of the UN Security Council in New York.
Szijjártósaid that Hungary, a neighbour of Ukraine, had been living with the consequences of the war for two and a half years now, with 1.5 million refugees having come to Hungary, a period of soaring inflation, while refugee children still attended some 1,000 schools in the country.
Photo: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
Szijjártó said the response of Europe and the international community had not brought peace closer. Sanctions harmed certain European countries more than they did Russia, he said, insisting that many European countries and companies circumvented sanctions.
Weapon deliveries only served to increase the number of casualties, Szijjártó said.
Szijjártó said Hungary promoted a ceasefire and peace talks, as the war had no solution on the battlefield. When the war started, Hungary offered to host peace talks for the warring parties, “and that invitation still stands”, he said.
He lamented that the word “peace” had become a “curse word”, adding that those who spoke about peace were “attacked and stigmatised”.
International politics must return to the principle of mutual respect and diplomacy must take centre stage, he said, adding that true diplomacy entailed talking to “everyone” rather than “only those who agree with us on everything”.
Belarus has always been a reliable partner in the transit of crude oil and no problems with shipments through its territory have emerged, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in New York, ahead of a planned meeting with Maxim Ryzhenkov, his Belarussian counterpart.
The dependability of energy supply is the most important issue for Hungary, and Belarus generally does not get the attention it deserves in this regard, the ministry cited Szijjártóas saying.
Szijjártó pointed to the danger posed recently to Hungary and Slovakia’s oil supplies as a result of Ukrainian measures to restrict Russian Lukoil deliveries. Thanks to coordinated action on the part of the Hungarian government, oil and gas company MOL and the Russian partner’s flexible approach, Ukraine transit deliveries have resumed, he noted.
“And we must not forget that the Druzhba pipeline runs through Belarus to Ukraine’s border,” he said.
Szijjártó noted that the volume of oil delivered via the Druzhba to Hungary in recent days exceeded 3 million tonnes, and he thanked Belarus for ensuring its continued transit.
Nuclear cooperation will also be on the agenda, with the expansion of the Paks power plant having reached “another milestone”, with soil excavation under way and concrete scheduled to be poured by year-end, he said.
Based on International Atomic Energy Agency standards, the Paks site is now registered as a nuclear power plant under construction, he added.
A power plant using similar technology was recently built in Belarus, and the engineers who worked there are now working at Paks. “The Russian contractor is continually transferring the freed-up workforce from Belarus to the Paks site. So, the investment can be expected to speed up significantly,” he said.
Global powers’ failure to negotiate is ‘nonsense’, says Szijjártó
The failure of global powers to negotiate with each other is “nonsense”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in New York on Wednesday. The purpose of diplomacy is to allow opposing sides to discuss important matters, Szijjártó said in a statement issued by his ministry. “It’s nonsense for somebody to be stigmatised and called out for standing up for peace or for diplomatic solutions and keeping diplomatic channels open,” he added.
At a meeting of G20 foreign ministers, he warned against initiatives to establish blocs, as in the Cold War, and said it was in Hungary’s interest to avoid such developments, given its history. Hungary backs fair international cooperation that is based on mutual respect, a system in which countries aren’t “chastised”, he added.
The whole world could profit if the principle of connectivity were to be adopted in the coming period, he said. Hungary’s pragmatic economic and foreign policy has made the country a “meeting point” between companies, especially automotive industry companies, from the East and the West, he added.
He noted that Hungary was home to all three premium German carmakers and five of the world’s ten biggest battery makers. “This shows that efforts to decouple the economies of the East and the West are nonsense,” he said. Hungary’s government is opposed to any measure that advances polarisation and that further restricts global free trade, he added. “We Hungarians are counting on the openness and wisdom of G20 countries, with whose support we can enter the era of connectivity instead of reverting to the Cold War era,” he said.
UPDATE: Szijjrátó asks UN SG to intercede to start dialogue between global powers
Szijjártó asked United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to intercede to advance negotiations between the United States and Russia in New York on Thursday, his ministry said. After meeting with Guterres, Szijjártó warned that the failure of the world’s biggest powers to speak to each other presented an “extraordinary risk” in terms of global security.
“We also know well that it comes with the risk that the world will be divided into blocs again and we could return to the nightmare that was the Cold War,” he added.
“I’ve asked the UN secretary-general to intercede in the interest of getting the global powers, the Americans and the Russians, to finally talk to each other,” Szijjarto said.
He added that an end to the Ukraine war would not be possible without American-Russian dialogue.
Szijjártó said the UN needed to take up its original role as a platform for establishing dialogue between countries that were on bad terms or in conflict.
The start of an American-Russian dialogue could bring “new hope” for global security, as well as the security of Central Europe, he added.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in New York on Wednesday, his ministry said in a statement.
Maintaining ties with Russia on the basis of mutual respect, and advancing cooperation in areas that are not affected by sanctions is in Hungary’s interest, Szijjártósaid after the meeting.
He added that the Russian foreign minister always strived to accommodate the requests of the Hungarian government and was positive and open to resolving important matters affecting the sides.
Szijjártó said another “milestone” had been reached in the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant with the start of full excavation. The first concrete at the site will be poured by year-end, which is necessary for the project’s “under construction” designation according to National Atomic Energy Agency standards, he added.
Hungary is counting on cooperation with Russia to extend the lifespan of the existing four blocks at Paks, he said.
Photo: FB/Szijjártó
Hungarian FM acknowledged Russia’s flexibility
Szijjártó acknowledged Russia’s flexibility in the matter of ensuring Hungary’s crude supply after measures by Ukraine threatened transit deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia.
Speaking about a visit by the Ukrainian foreign minister to Budapest in the coming week, Szijjártó said minority rights would be on the agenda, pointing to the deprivation of some rights of the Hungarian minority living there. He added that Hungary expected those rights to be restored.
He said the talks would also touch on economic cooperation, including cooperation on transportation and infrastructure developments.
Szijjártó reiterated Hungary’s pro-peace position and hope for a ceasefire, peace talks and the end of the war as soon as possible.
Szijjártó: ‘Fastest way to peace’ the real issue
The real issue regarding the war in Ukraine is to find the fastest way to peace, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, told the 79th UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday local time. “Unfortunately, I have to start with saying that we live in an age of dangers,” Szijjártó said.
After the fall of communism and Hungary’s Euro-Atlantic integration, “we would not have thought that we would be facing again the phantom of cold war,” he said.
As a neighbour of Ukraine, Hungary “has been living in the shadow of war” and facing its consequences by accepting 1.3 million refugees from the country, Szijjártósaid. “We have been paying the price of a war which is not our war, and for the outbreak of which we do not bear any kind of responsibility.”
“I think that after almost a thousand days, the real question is not what we think of the war, the real question is how peace could be made. Or even more precisely … we have to ask which is the fastest way to peace. Because we have to pick that one,” Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary wanted no more destruction.
The success of the European Union and the international community’s response to the war must also be weighed carefully, he said. “And if we are honest with ourselves, we have to say that practically nothing has worked out … [that] was based on an assumption that there might be a solution on the battlefield.”
Weapons deliveries made no sense
The international community must also ask whether weapons deliveries “made any sense”, Szijjártó said. “And obviously, they have made no sense … because weapon deliveries have not changed the situation on the battlefield and they have not brought us closer to peace either.” Weapon deliveries had only increased the number of weapons on either side and prolonged the war, he said.
He also called on those deciding on whether weapons from the West would be allowed to be used in “strategic depth in Russia” to make responsible decisions and to consider the danger of escalation such a step would bring.
Szijjártó said Hungary was deeply concerned over the “open and shameless reference of the possible use of nuclear weapons”.
Seeking a solution at the negotiating table would save many lives, Szijjártó said. “Therefore Hungary argues in favour of an immediate ceasefire and the start of peace talks. This would be the fastest way to peace.”
The minister said the “international liberal mainstream” had turned “peace into a curse word”. Those arguing in favour of peace “will be immediately attacked and stigmatised”, he said.
He called on the UN to play a bigger role in the diplomatic efforts to end the war, as it provides a legitimate forum for warring parties to negotiate.
Szijjártó said Hungary considered it “nonsense and unacceptable” that representatives of world powers were not talking to each other, as that posed national security threats as well as the danger that the world would be divided into blocs again.
East-West cooperation is important
The world could benefit greatly from a “civilised East to West cooperation”, he said, adding that Hungary’s foreign policy was pragmatic and patriotic.
Global politics needed a fundamental change and must return to the principle of mutual respect by once again using dialogue and diplomacy as its most important tools, he said.
The fact that the supporters of peace were in the majority in the UN gave cause for hope, and Hungary was proud to be a member of “this global majority for peace”, he said. “And we are ready to support all global initiatives which are aiming at reaching peace, and we are ready to discuss all peace plans.”
At the same time, Szijjártó said it was “unacceptable that some countries would like to give exclusivity to one or another peace plan… We absolutely want all peace plans to be discussed,” he said, commending China and Brazil for drafting one and expressing hope that that peace plan would also be on the agenda.
He said economic sanctions were useless and hurt certain European countries more than they did Russia.
Brussels committed a huge mistake
Regarding illegal migration, Szijjártó said Brussels had committed a “huge mistake” when trying to manage rather than stop migration. Hungary stood by its right to determine whom to allow into the country, he said. International law said all those forced to flee their homes had the right to temporary asylum in the first safe country, “but not on the second, the third or the fourth one”. “Hungary will continue to stop the flow of illegal migration on its border, through which basically we save Europe from further huge security-related challenges”, he said. “In the meantime, it is insane” that Hungary had to pay hundreds of millions of euros in fines “because of complying with international law”, Szijjártó said.
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Hungary will support any pro-peace initiative that can put an end to almost a thousand days of suffering in Ukraine, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said at a UN Security Council meeting in New York focused on Ukraine, insisting that the question was not “what we think about the war, but how to establish peace” in the quickest possible timeframe. He said there was no solution on the battlefield.
At the meeting on Tuesday evening local time, Szijjártósaid that Hungary had direct experiences of the negative consequences of the conflict in its neighbourhood and had paid a high price for the war over the past two and a half years, even though it bore no responsibility for its outbreak.
“We Hungarians … do not want further destruction [or] suffering, and we do not want more people to die”, especially given “the significant Hungarian community living in Ukraine”. Arms shipments, he added, would not bring the end of the war any closer, while more and more weapons on both sides only led to more casualties and the growing risk of escalation under the shadow of nuclear weapons.
Photo: FB/Szijjártó
No solution on the battlefield, the foreign minister believes
“We Hungarians argue for a ceasefire and the start of peace negotiations. We Hungarians believe that this is the fastest way to peace,” he said.
“What has happened so far proves that there is no solution on the battlefield…” he added.
Putin and Orbán in July in Moscow. The Hungarian prime minister was on a so-called “peace mission”, but with no apparent success. Photo: FB/Orbán
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The international community must prevent a further escalation in the crisis in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in New York on Tuesday, warning of the “serious impact” that an even deeper crisis would have on global security.
Middle East
Commenting on recent “unsettling reports” from the Middle East, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement, that like the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East was moving ever closer to escalation and an expansion of the crisis, “which could also severely undermine global security”.
“The involvement of Lebanon in the conflict, I believe, has significance beyond itself because if one more country becomes involved in the conflict, it will not stop at the country’s borders,” he warned.
“I think the Lebanese people bear no blame for the crisis that has developed, and I really hope that the Lebanese people won’t have to suffer because of it,” he said.
He pointed to the Hungarian government’s close ties with Lebanon’s Christian community, saying they were in constant contact and Hungary would provide them with any help they may need.
“The Hungarian government has carried out roughly 5 billion forints’ worth of development, support, and humanitarian programs in Lebanon in recent years, which were used to build churches and support the operations of schools and monasteries,” he noted.
Szijjártó also expressed hope that “everyone will have the sound judgment in the coming days” needed to prevent a further escalation of the Middle East crisis and “the suffering of further millions.”
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said he is scheduled to meet his Lebanese counterpart on Wednesday, and the Middle East crisis will be one of the topics on the agenda.
Africa strategy
Concerning his bilateral talks scheduled for Tuesday, the minister said he will discuss security matters, including migration pressure, with some of his African and Asian counterparts.
“I think it’s clear to everyone by now that if Europe is unable to draft a comprehensive Africa strategy, it won’t be able to escape a degree of migration pressure that is incomparably greater than what it is experiencing now,” he said.
Szijjártó said Africa’s population is projected to grow by around 750 million over the next two decades, “and these people will have to be given jobs, education, and health care.”
“If we can’t make that happen, we could be faced with the biggest humanitarian disaster in history or the greatest level of migration pressure Europe has ever seen,” he warned.
“It would be good to avoid both, so we’ll be speaking about cooperation on migration and development with the leaders of the African states,” he added.
Honduras
On another subject, Szijjártó said Honduras is joining Hungary’s scholarship programme, with the country set to offer Honduran students the opportunity to study at Hungarian universities. He also welcomed Cuba’s interest in Hungarian water management technologies.
Szijjártó said he would also meet the foreign ministers of Asian countries and that Hungary and Cambodia agreed to open embassies in each other’s countries. The minister said he is set to sign a cooperation agreement on diplomacy training with Uzbekistan and that he will discuss the situation in the Middle East with the top diplomat of the United Arab Emirates.
Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said in New York on Monday that the country is doing all it can to ensure a return to peace amid fair international cooperation, and the UN should also play a big role in this.
Addressing the UN General Assembly’s summit on the future, Szijjártó said the global security situation was at a post-WW2 nadir, with growing terrorism, migration and multiple armed conflicts taking place worldwide.
He called for “mutual respect” to be restored to world politics through dialogue.
Positions that diverged from the mainstream and stood up for national interests were stigmatised and attacked, he said.
He said European politicians liked to talk about reaching a peaceful settlement via diplomacy, but when “war is raging on the continent,” they “attack and criticize anyone who stands up for peace.”
The possible outcomes were a third world war or the world falling into blocks again, he added.
He said that rather than accepting the prevailing opposition between East and West, Hungary is interested in connectivity and a return to fair international cooperation.
He said the UN had not been established “as a club of like-minded countries” but as a forum for “everyone to negotiate about everything.”
“The UN must take up this role once more. My question is: where can we talk about peace if not here?”
“That’s why we won’t accept any constraints on whom we can meet, whom we can’t meet or what topics we can and can’t discuss,” he added.
“We Hungarians are a peace-loving nation in central Europe. What I can promise is that we Hungarians will do everything to ensure that … the future is an period of peace, where international cooperation is fair … and ‘peace’ is not a swearword, and where no one is stigmatised for standing up for peace,”
International politics needs to change fundamentally in order to tackle the current severe crises, and it should return to “mutual respect … and stop using peace as a swearword”, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said in New York on Monday.
He said the ongoing UN General Assembly was the tensest of the past decade.
“There are about thirty wars or armed conflicts ongoing in the world. Two of them could undermine global security any minute. Additionally, two of those conflicts are escalating, or the risk of an escalation is extremely high,” he said, according to a ministry statement.
A summit on the future is taking place on Monday and Tuesday, Szijjártó noted. The meeting is scheduled to table issues on water supplies, population growth and green transition, but those issues have had to take a back seat to the matter of peace and war, he said.
The question, he said, was whether a third world war and the escalation of the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine could be avoided, “and whether the global pro-peace majority can ensure that the word peace is not used as a swearword in international politics”, Szijjártó said.
The minister said he would also address the meeting, stressing that international politics must undergo fundamental change to resolve the current grave crises.
“Diplomacy should provide the tools for international policymaking, which should be based on dialogue … We must cease attempts to discredit those arguing for peace. Nationally minded patriotic politicians should not be threatened with political, legal or physical annihilation,” he said.
Regarding planned bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Chad, Oman and Congo, Szijjártó said Europe and the transatlantic community’s approach to the “global South … is that they should do whatever we tell them to”. Those countries were not “buying into” that approach, he said.
He said those countries faced constant difficulties due to war in Europe. “They don’t understand why Europeans are pushing their difficulties onto the shoulders of the entire world.”
So far, Europe had always called for diplomatic solutions and negotiations in armed conflict, Szijjártó said.
“Then, when the war is in Europe, those representing that stance are branded Putin’s puppets and Russian spies, even as Europe is itself adding fuel to the conflict,” he added.
The war posed difficulties for several southern countries that had nothing to do with it, “and who don’t understand why they should be paying the price of a war many thousands of kilometres away,” he said. Hungary was also in the dark as to “why we should be paying the price of the war in the neighbourhood when we have nothing to do with it,” he said.
Hungary and China agree on the need to multiply diplomatic efforts aimed at establishing peace, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in New York on Tuesday after a phone call with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, adding that the UN had a special responsibility in this. Attacks by pro-war European politicians will give further encouragement to the Hungarian government to continue its peace mission because Hungary wants peace instead of war and only peace can make Europe great again, Szijjártó said in New York.
The UN cannot hide
“The UN must finally speak out and finally take on a role,” Szijjártósaid, according to a ministry statement. “The UN cannot hide in the comfortable offices in New York, but must take a stand for reopening diplomatic communication channels.”
He noted that the UN had been established to allow for dialogue between those locked in conflict.
Szijjártó said the Hungarian government had recently “come under attack” from “all of Europe’s pro-war politicians”, but this “won’t deter us from continuing the peace mission”.
Mr Szijjártó on phone with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi:
He said the liberal mainstream was “pushing pro-war propaganda in the transatlantic bubble so hard”, that it gave people in Europe and America the impression that “this is the opinion of the whole world, when it is not”.
Majority wants peace
“The global majority wants peace and doesn’t at all understand why Europe doesn’t have a peace strategy . why it’s copying the American strategy,” Szijjártó said. “And the global majority is watching the efforts of the Hungarian peace mission with great sympathy, interest and appreciation.”
Szijjártó said he will meet his Russian counterpart, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Photo: FB
“This war going on in Ukraine has caused an enormous humanitarian disaster; we Hungarians can see that as well,” he said. “We’ve welcomed more than a million refugees, we see the separated families, we see the forced, unacceptable conscription operations that violate all human rights.”
Szijjártó warned against the danger of “the Western world ignoring the risk of escalation” when making decisions on weapons deliveries.
Meanwhile, the minister said he is also scheduled to hold talks on Tuesday with executives of American companies such as Kyndryl and Johnson and Johnson on potentially bolstering their presence in Hungary.
New scholarships
He said he will also hold talks with his Bahraini, Iranian and Cape Verdean counterparts.
He said Hungary and Bahrain will finalise an investment protection agreement, and said it was “good news” that a Hungarian company had provided the opportunity for cashless payment at the last Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Hungary and Cape Verde will sign an agreement on Hungary continuing to offer scholarships to 20 university students from Cape Verde each year, he said. Also, Hungarian companies will carry out investments with a view to improving the water supply as part of a 42 million euro tied-aid scheme, he added.
Szijjártó said he will also meet his Iranian counterpart and tell him that Hungary’s interests lay in the swiftest possible resolution to the Middle East crisis.
Szijjártó: Political attacks only give further encouragement to government’s continued peace mission
Attacks by pro-war European politicians will give further encouragement to the Hungarian government to continue its peace mission because Hungary wants peace instead of war and only peace can make Europe great again, Szijjártó said in New York.
The ministry cited Szijjártó as telling an open debate at the UN Security Council that Hungary had been living in the shadow of war for two and a half years and had been confronted with the direct consequences of the war, receiving more than one million refugees, facing war inflation and having to pay tremendously high energy prices.
“The war looks totally different from the neighbourhod compared to an ocean away,” he said.
Thousands of people were dying, a country was under destruction and there were long-term risks, such as the world being divided into blocs again, he said. Hungary knows that when there’s no chance for civilised cooperation between East and West “we lose on it”, he added.
He said that over the past ten years he had participated in a number of meetings in the EU where they discussed the issue of armed conflicts and wars far away from Europe, and the European position had always been to urge the parties of the given war to give up the battlefield solution, to sit around the negotiating table and look for a diplomatic solution.
Speakers about peade are not spies or Trojan horses
Now when there’s a war going on in Europe, not only is the position totally different but if someone uses the word “peace” and the word “negotiation” they get stigmatised immediately, being called a “spy or Trojan horse”, he said.
Szijjártó said it was “a very bad approach” that the legitimacy of diplomacy had been debated. He said diplomacy was not only talking to those “with whom you agree 100 percent”.
Diplomacy, he said, was about talking to everyone, even to those with whom one did not agree on major issues.
The last two and a half years had proven clearly that there was no battlefield solution to the war in Ukraine, so it was necessary to give back the legitimacy for diplomacy, the minister said.
“It is not only unacceptable but scandalous that a country is being stigmatised in the 21st century just because of arguing in favour of a diplomatic solution, just because of using channels of communication to talk to those with whom there might be a lack of common understanding on major issues,” he said.
Over-politisation of the UN is “unacceptable”
The UN has been established to give a platform for those who do not agree with each other, who are in a hostile relationship, who are at war with each other, to talk to each other, he added.
Szijjártó said the over-politisation of the UN was “unacceptable” and it was equally unacceptable to restrict countries from negotiating with whomever they want.
Attacks by European politicians representing a pro-war position, he said, would only give the Hungarian government further encouragement to continue its peace mission.
“We want peace instead of war. And only peace will make Europe great again,” he added.
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The General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted a Hungarian initiative with a full consensus to mark World Fair Play Day on May 19 each year, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook from New York on Tuesday.
“Today has started with a great Hungarian success,” the minister wrote, adding that 92 UNmembers had joined and co-authored the Hungarian proposal, “making a symbolic commitment and signalling their full support for our initiative”.
He said the initiative was backed by a “global coalition”, including China, the US, Germany, South Korea, Indonesia, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Hungarian initiative “promotes an approach to reinforce sportsmanship and the values it represents, such as abiding by the rules, respecting the adversary and combatting violence and doping,” Szijjártósaid.
Referring to the peace-promoting role of the Olympic Games, Szijjártó said: “We want the whole world to remember … when athletes hugged after a competition even when they came from countries at war with each other.”
“With less than three weeks before the 33rd Summer Olympics, it is no exaggeration to say that this has been the greatest demonstration globally of support for the independence of sports and against the tendency of the world falling into blocs again … and all this is associated with us Hungarians,” Szijjártó said.
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The Orbán cabinet rejectsUN resolution about Srebrenica, Serbian leaders praises Hungary
At the UN headquarters in New York within the framework of the 40th session of the states parties to the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), elections of members of the Human Rights Committee (HRC) for the period 2025-2028 took place.
The HRC is a UN body consisting of independent experts who monitor the implementation by state parties of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966). There are 174 states participating in the pact. Uzbekistan acceded to this international document in 1995.
The work of the HRC is aimed at ensuring full respect for all civil and political rights without any discrimination. The Committee consists of 18 independent experts who are elected for a 4-year period by the states parties to the said pact.
Based on the results of a secret ballot held among member countries, the candidate from Uzbekistan, Director of the National Center for Human Rights, Dr.Akmal Saidov, was elected to the HRC, having received the largest number of votes among applicants from other states.
It is important to note that the current election campaign took place in an intense and unprecedented competitive environment with an unpredictable outcome. Each candidate, possessing deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the field of international relations and human rights, had a high chance of being elected.
A convincing victory in the elections is evidence of widespread recognition of the effectiveness of the democratic reforms carried out under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens.
The election of a representative of our country to this key body is primarily the result of a pragmatic foreign policy strategy established by the Head of State to build a constructive dialogue with international human rights structures. In particular, over the last period the republic has been visited by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, special rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council, heads of the International Labor Organization and other UN structures. They have repeatedly expressed positive assessments of the reforms being carried out in the country.
The election of a representative of Uzbekistan to the HRC is a historical event. A. Saidov will be the first expert from Central Asian countries to join the Committee. Earlier, in 2021-2023. Uzbekistan has successfully completed its membership in the Human Rights Council, consisting of 47 UN member states.
The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan expresses gratitude to all countries that supported the election of Uzbekistan’s representative to this prestigious body and reaffirms its commitment to high standards of respect and promotion of human rights and interests “leaving no one behind.”
The Hungarian government representative did not support the United Nations General Assembly’s recent resolution designating July 11 as the “International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica” fearing that it could revive serious conflicts posing a danger to the Western Balkans region, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Nyíregyháza, on Friday.
“There is no question that what happened in Srebrenica was an incredibly sad, tragic event… Every effort must be made to prevent that such a horrendous act should occur again anywhere in the world,” he said, according to a foreign ministry statement.
“But that was not the question. The question is whether, thirty years later, such a decision today will contribute to maintaining peace in the Western Balkans, or, on the contrary, could trigger conflicts that could pose a danger to the entire region, including Hungary,” Szijjártósaid, calling the timing of the resolution “unfortunate”.
He noted that in Thursday’s vote, 19 UN member states rejected the resolution and another 68 abstained while 84 supported it. “This means that out of the 193 UN member states, 84 voted in favour which is the minority of the member states,” Szijjártó said.
On 15 May, Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina, helda joint press conference with Szijjártó and said Hungary understood the Balkans the best and he was happy that Budapest would lead the European Council from this June.
The agriculture ministry said on Tuesday that Hungary continues to seek close cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
The ministry said in a statement citing István Nagy, the minister of agriculture, after he met FAO’s assistant director-general Viorel Gutu, that during its upcoming European Union presidency, Hungary plans to highlight the importance of reducing food waste and poverty that still exists in various parts of the world.
Nagy congratulated Gutu on his recent appointment, adding that it was highly important to Hungary that the FAO operated a regional center in Budapest. He pledged to further strengthen existing cooperation.
Under the arrangements of the Hungarian EU presidency, a high-level international conference will be held with the cooperation of the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in October, focusing on food waste, the statement said.
The minister said Hungary had made considerable contributions to helping Africa, aiding efforts to stop migration, and sending grain to Africa through the World Food Programme.
Commenting on education, Nagy said that young people who obtain a degree thanks to an FAO scholarship should also receive help at home because they possess internationally essential knowledge and experience.
