The United Nations was created to act as a platform between the hostile states, Péter Szijjártó emphasized in New York.Continue reading
Hungary remains ready to act for peace, dialogue, and against all forms of terrorism, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday in New York at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly session on the situation in the Middle East.
In his speech, he stressed that it was crucial to avoid escalation, underlining that if the conflict spreads to even one other country, it will not stop at its borders, and will pose a direct threat to global security with unforeseeable consequences. In this respect, he said, it was vital to prevent the emergence of a Lebanese front, and all support should be given to the Beirut government, which wants to stay out of the war.
The minister also touched upon the protection of civilians, stressing the need to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid so that innocent people do not suffer the consequences of the brutal atrocities of terrorists. He therefore called on all state actors and international organizations to do their utmost to achieve this goal. He also referred to the hostages and called for the immediate and unconditional release of those abducted by extremists. In this context, he thanked Qatar, without which the three Hungarian hostages would not have been safe, and asked the country to continue its efforts to secure the release of those still held in captivity.
Speaking ahead of the session, the Foreign Minister stressed that “when Donald Trump was the President of the United States, the political leg of Hungarian-American relations was at its peak.” He added that Trump “could prevent armed conflicts from developing in the world.”
The minister noted that their experience shows that
if Trump had been the U.S. president in the past years, there would not be a war in Ukraine and the Middle East crisis could have been solved faster.
Earlier that day, the Hungarian Minister held talks with two UN Under-Secretaries-General and the director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Prior to the meeting, he said that the success of counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East was not only in Israel’s interest, but also in the global interest.
It is (…) up to governments to determine how much assistance they can provide, through voluntary donations or bilateral agreements, to people in extremely difficult situations,”
he said.
After the meeting, the Szijjártó said that he had assured Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretaries-General for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs, that Hungary would maintain its support for UN peacekeeping missions. He also added: “We will contribute to the stability of the Sahel, to the stability of the Western Balkans, and 16 peacekeepers will serve in Lebanon in the future.”
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter