Our Foreign Policy Is Built on Patriotism and Sovereignty, Says Foreign Minister

In the wake of the recent serious crises, a new world order is emerging, and in such circumstances the Hungarian government must pursue a prudent but firm foreign policy strategy, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in London on Tuesday.

In a lecture at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), he emphasized that

the four cornerstones of Hungary’s foreign policy strategy are sovereignty, patriotism, recognition of reality and Christianity.

On the first point, he recalled that Hungary has always been a nation of freedom fighters, always defending its own interests while respecting the positions of other countries. “We always respect the fact that others also represent their own national interests, but we expect the same,” he emphasized.

He went on to say that the government was pursuing a Hungarian foreign policy strategy, and that a nation with such a small population should always stand up for itself, so that it could only look at world events through its own lens, which in turn could lead to conflict. He cited illegal immigration and the coronavirus epidemic as examples, in response to which a fence was built on Hungary’s southern border and vaccines were purchased from the east as well as the west.

In the context of the third cornerstone, Mr Szijjártó said

it was important to recognize the reality of the situation, and pointed out that as a country without a coastline and substantial energy resources, global trade is vital for Hungary.

This is why the government is attracting investment from all geographical directions and focusing its foreign policy on practical issues, such as strengthening the presence of domestic companies in foreign markets.

Finally, the Foreign Minister also touched on Hungary’s more than a thousand years of Christian statehood, its responsibility towards Christian communities around the world and its adherence to Christian values. “We insist on normality, and we insist on the fact that there are definitions that have been alive for two thousand years,” he emphasized.

Péter Szijjártó called global political and economic changes important. On the former, he stressed that it is currently being determined by the shift in US policy. He regretted that everything in Europe has long been controlled by the international liberal mainstream, and therefore the Hungarian government welcomes the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who is firmly opposed to the woke ideology.

In his view, the European Union has now isolated itself from the most important players in world politics. He noted that for eight years, European leaders have been scolding Donald Trump, while the EU has also cut ties with Russia, thus dismantling the economic growth model that has not been replaced.

He also pointed out

the EU had isolated itself from China by imposing tariffs on the East Asian country’s electric car industry.

“We Hungarians lived under a communist dictatorship for forty years. So we know how it feels to have been oppressed by the East and neglected by the West for four decades. We have lost four decades of our lives. So the last thing we want is for the world to be divided into blocks again, which is what is happening. So we argue instead for connectivity,” he emphasized. He underlined that, as a result, Hungary has become a meeting point for Eastern and Western investment, from which Hungary benefits a lot, so efforts to separate the European and Chinese economies would be very damaging to the country, which is why it is important to maintain economic neutrality.

Via MTI, Featured photo via Facebook/Péter Szijjártó