Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the upcoming Hungarian European Union presidency will strive to “restore cooperation between the EU and Israel to the level of mutual respect."
At a joint press conference with Israel Katz, his Israeli counterpart, the foreign minister urged the sides to conduct a dialogue and “suppress the tone of reprimanding and lecturing”. He added the Hungarian presidency would make preparations for association talks between the EU and Israel “in that spirit”. Minister Szijjártó said the Middle East crisis had had a big impact on global security and warned that the Gaza conflict could “easily become a global threat”. “Moreover, should the Gaza crisis and the war in Ukraine somehow be interconnected … we could face the real possibility of a global war,” he said. According to the Hungarian government, “November 7 must not be repeated at any time or anywhere; the international community must defeat terrorist groups,” Minister Szijjártó said. He also called for an immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages still held by Hamas, noting that the terrorist organisation had taken hostage five Hungarian nationals, three of whom had been released, one died, and the last one “is probably alive and hopefully soon to be released”. “Civilian lives must be saved,” Szijjártó said, adding that terrorist organizations “using civilians as a shield for their own defense … is unacceptable, base cowardice.” “Everything must be done to prevent escalation of the conflict, which could engulf the whole region in flames,” he said. The ministry’s statement quoted Katz as thanking the Hungarian government for its support, adding: “Hungary is a true friend to Israel, their ties being founded on respect.” Katz said Hungary’s fight against anti-Semitism was exemplary and wished to see similar efforts “in western Europe and in other parts of the world.”