Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary does not support Mark Rutte’s candidacy for NATO secretary general.
The foreign minister added that full trust was a basic requirement in the alliance, and the Dutch leader had in the past talked about “bringing Hungary to its knees”. At a press conference held in Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely), Minister Szijjártó welcomed that Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, an “eastern candidate” for the post, had emerged. He said much talk focused on strengthening the alliance’s eastern flank but “it doesn’t occur to anyone that if a threat is from the east, then the secretary general might also be from the east”. The minister said that in NATO “you even have to die for each other, so it must be led by someone in whom we can trust hundred percent”. The minister confirmed that he had a tough debate with his Lithuanian counterpart in Brussels earlier in the day. He insisted that Gabrielius Landsbergis was “one of the most pro-war politicians” among the EU foreign ministers. “No matter how much someone shouts at me … I still favour peace,” he said.