Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary and China agree on the need to multiply diplomatic efforts aimed at establishing peace.
Speaking in New York on Tuesday after a phone call with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, the foreign minister said that the UN had a special responsibility in this. “The UN must finally speak out and finally take on a role,” Minister Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement. “The UN cannot hide in the comfortable offices in New York, but must take a stand for reopening diplomatic communication channels.” He noted that the UN had been established to allow for dialogue between those locked in conflict. Szijjártó said the Hungarian government had recently “come under attack” from “all of Europe’s pro-war politicians”, but this “won’t deter us from continuing the peace mission”. He said the liberal mainstream was “pushing pro-war propaganda in the transatlantic bubble so hard”, that it gave people in Europe and America the impression that “this is the opinion of the whole world, when it is not”.
Minister Szijjártó said he will meet his Russian counterpart, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. He said he is also scheduled to hold talks on Tuesday with executives of American companies such as Kyndryl and Johnson and Johnson on potentially bolstering their presence in Hungary. Szijjártó added that he will also hold talks with his Bahraini, Iranian and Cape Verdean counterparts. He said Hungary and Bahrain will finalise an investment protection agreement, and said it was “good news” that a Hungarian company had provided the opportunity for cashless payment at the last Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Hungary and Cape Verde will sign an agreement on Hungary continuing to offer scholarships to 20 university students from Cape Verde each year, he said. Also, Hungarian companies will carry out investments with a view to improving the water supply as part of a 42 million euro tied-aid scheme, he added. Szijjártó said he would also meet his Iranian counterpart and tell him that Hungary’s interests lay in the swiftest possible resolution to the Middle East crisis.