The foreign minister said Hungary, being a "committed and loyal" member of NATO, "would not want another cold war or animosity between East and West".
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the people of central Europe were aware that “calm, peace, civilized cooperation and dialogue based on mutual respect are good”.
“Promoting our own interests and values, we must seek mutually beneficial cooperation rather than enemies,” the minister insisted, noting the global challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic. “We now have to protect the health and lives of people, which makes the importance of international cooperation greater than ever,” he said.
Minister Szijjártó pointed to challenges concerning illegal migration and warned that migration trends offered opportunities for terrorist organizations to send activists to Europe. Fighting terrorism and helping countries in North Africa and the Middle East develop their security capacities should be in NATO’s focus, he said.
Finally, the minister said efforts against the Islamic State militant group should be continued in Iraq, adding that a new coalition government in Libya could help eliminate “terrorism closely linked to migration”.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter