Hungary Refuses to Be Labelled a “Spy or Trojan Horse” for its Peace Efforts

The attacks by pro-war European politicians only further strengthen the Hungarian government’s determination to pursue its peace mission: Hungary wants peace instead of war, because only peace can make Europe great again, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in New York on Tuesday.

The current Russian presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened a meeting on the global security situation. During an open discussion of the meeting, Péter Szijjártó stressed that Hungary has been living in the shadow of the war in Ukraine for two and a half years now, directly experiencing its negative effects, such as the arrival of more than a million refugees, and skyrocketing inflation and energy prices. “The war looks very different from the neighborhood than it does from an ocean away,” he said.

The minister recalled that over the last ten years he has attended several EU meetings on distant armed conflicts, where the community has always called for peace talks and diplomatic settlements.

In contrast, in the case of the war in Ukraine, the EU’s position is not only completely different, but anyone who talks about ‘peace’ or ‘negotiations’ is immediately labelled a ‘spy, a Trojan horse.'”

He stressed that over the last two and a half years it has become clear that there is no solution for Ukraine in the battlefield, and that diplomacy must be given back its full legitimacy in order to reach a settlement as soon as possible. He added that the real diplomatic achievement is to engage in talks with people with whom there are differences of opinion on important issues.

It is not only unacceptable, but also outrageous that a country is stigmatized in the 21st century simply because it argues for a diplomatic solution and negotiates through communication channels with those with whom it disagrees on important issues,”

Minister Szijjártó underlined.

The politician concluded by saying that the UN was created precisely to enable parties at hostility with each other, even at war, to engage in dialogue. In this context, he spoke out against the politicization of the world body and said it was unacceptable that some people were trying to restrict sovereign states from negotiating with whomever they wanted.

Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter