"My compass always points toward the Hungarian national interest," the prime minister said at the Qatar Economic Forum.Continue reading
The most important task of the international community should be to save human lives, and therefore the Hungarian government will stand by its position despite all attacks and pressure, and urge for peace in Ukraine as soon as possible, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Strasbourg on Monday.
According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, the Minister said at the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that he had requested the opportunity to address the broadest political platform on the continent because he believes in the importance of dialogue.
He stressed that
Europe is currently facing the most serious economic and security challenges since the Second World War and that the most pressing question is whether a regional armed conflict with global implications will escalate into a world war.
He said that while some European leaders are suffering from “war psychosis” and people are not in any way responsible for the war in Ukraine, everyone is paying the price through skyrocketing inflation.
He stressed that Europe had made two major mistakes: on one hand, it had dug itself deeper into sanctions policy, and on the other, it had not refused to compete with the United States, the world’s leading military superpower, to see who could provide Ukraine with more military support.
The more weapons that go into Ukraine, the longer the war will last, and the longer the war lasts, the more people will die,”
he highlighted.
“The most important task of the international community today should be to save lives, which can only be done through peace,” he added.
He emphasized that Hungary was in a special position as a neighboring state of Ukraine, facing the negative effects of the war directly and severely, and that many Hungarians in Transcarpathia (formerly part of Hungary, now in Ukraine) were also victims of the war.
The minister then touched on the weakening European competitiveness, which was a combination of advanced Western technologies and relatively cheap Eastern energy sources, underlining that while the US had passed laws that openly favor domestic companies, the EU is putting companies in a difficult position with sanctions.
He deplored the fact that the world is once again moving towards “blocization,” which he said was the worst possible news for our country, as Central Europe is always caught in the East-West conflict.
“A civilized cooperation and division of labor between East and West is always much better than conflict,” he emphasized.
Finally, Szijjártó said that
in Europe, Hungary takes a minority position on the war, but the world is bigger than Europe and the transatlantic area, and the vast majority of countries want peace as soon as possible.”
In support of this, he noted that last year, following the start of the war, elections were held in Hungary and the governing parties were clearly in favor of staying out of the war and opposed the arms transfer, while the opposition was in favor of the “European mainstream position.”
The result was a landslide victory, bigger than ever before, and it is the duty of the government to continue to stand firm for the national interest, for peace, and for saving lives, despite all attacks, he concluded.
Via MTI, Featured Photo via Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
