The foreign minister has reaffirmed that the government will not retreat and it will make every effort to protect Hungary’s security.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, made the remarks in response to comments made by French Minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau.
In an interview with French magazine L’Obs, Loiseau said a historic fight must be fought against the Hungarian government because Hungary is on the wrong path and Europe’s radicals must be stopped. She added that the rule of law was under threat in Hungary, a decrease in press pluralism represented a problem and the judicial system was also under threat.
Minister Szijjártó said in a statement that a minister of the French government openly despised and attacked Hungary. She wants to tell Hungarian people how they should live and she cannot accept that at the last democratic election (inApril), a sweeping majority of Hungarians voted for the government of Viktor Orbán for the third consecutive time, he added.
The minister added that the pro-migration French minister considers her government progressive while she obviously believes Hungarians are backward. He added that the French government seems to think that concepts like security, border protection and Christian culture are outdated. On the other hand, he said that Hungarians insist on them and do not wish to “rush into an abyss where the so-called progressives are headed."
Minister Szijjártó said the Hungarian government would “take up the gauntlet,” it would not retreat but make every effort to protect Hungary’s security even in the face of excessive power, because Hungary is not a French province. He concluded that the people of Europe will decide who wins the battle at next year’s European parliamentary elections.