UN Human Rights Council must be non-political, impartial, says Hungarian minister – VIDEO

In a video address to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said there was mounting criticism of the council’s work in terms of the politicisation of its initiatives and programmes.

In the session held online on Tuesday due to Covid, Szijjártó gave warning that the council should not turn into a forum in which certain people and countries “are constantly stigmatised”.

The minister called on the UN body to promote constructive international dialogue and cooperation. He said

Hungary was committed to the protection of human rights, which he called “universal, inalienable, indivisible, interdependent and interconnected”.

He accused the body of stigmatising Israel. The council, he insisted, did not credit Israel for its efforts to protect these rights. Israel, he added, had a right to defend itself.

The minister said

Hungary backed all initiatives aimed at supporting sustainable peace in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó noted that Hungary devoted special attention to the rights of national and linguistic minorities, supporting initiatives aimed at preserving and strengthening the acquired rights of these communities. Any violations of these rights were “unacceptable”, he added.