Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Monday that Hungary faced “aggressive, coordinated pro-war hysteria, in many cases completely neglecting reality” at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting because of its peace mission.
Minister Szijjártó told a press conference that the EU’s Ukraine strategy had failed in the past two and a half years, arguing that peace was increasingly farther away, and the sanctions were hurting the continent’s economy more and more. “Of course, we can bury our head in the sand, as some of my fellow European politicians have done, and interpret the truth as Kremlin propaganda,” he said. Instead, he called for a changed approach and a peace strategy, saying that diplomatic channels must be reopened for the sake of success. Szijjártó said that last week the Swiss and Russian foreign ministers met, the US and Russian defence ministers had talks by phone and the Ukrainian president held talks with Donald Trump. “So everybody has started using diplomatic channels, it is only here in Brussels and in European capitals that they call this illegitimate, something that must not be done, and whoever argues for diplomatic solutions is labelled pro-Russian”, he said.
Minister Szijjártó said he had pointed out the “lies”, for instance, the fact that during its peace mission, Hungary never said it acted representing the EU and nobody tried to make such an impression. After the first meetings of the peace mission, three proposals were presented: the reopening of diplomatic channels with Russia, political consultation with China and communications with the global South, he said. The latter had been discussed at every EU Council meeting and the importance of maintaining relations with China has also been voiced by many, he added. “If we consider how many European leaders met the Chinese president in the recent past and how many more will meet him in the near future, it is a long list,” he said. Szijjártó said there were some differences of opinion in terms of the reopening of diplomatic channels. However, he said this was a legitimate matter for debate and refusing the possibility of debate was undemocratic. Meanwhile, he said that “a fantastic act of revenge has been devised in Brussels” which involved rendering the informal foreign ministers’ meeting planned for late August in Budapest impossible. “It is completely childish,” he added. It is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy that must decide if a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council is held in a formal or informal framework, and it is an institutionalised custom that in the latter case it is held in the member state holding the rotating presidency, he said. “We are prepared for it. If the High Representative for Foreign Affairs calls the meeting to Budapest, we will be pleased to welcome the foreign minister colleagues with the proper Hungarian hospitality,” he said. “And if the High Representative decides that he does not want to call the meeting in Budapest but in Brussels, then I will come and then the meeting will be held in Brussels.” He said several people had argued for the meeting to be held in Budapest but several said they would be unwilling to attend. There was even a proposal for the meeting to be held in Ukraine, which Szijjártó said would need unanimous support and the Hungarian government will not support it. He said it was only Slovakia that had clearly stood up in support of Hungary. “The Slovak deputy foreign minister who was here clearly said that they had no objection and criticism against the Hungarian prime minister’s peace mission,” he added.