Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that because Hungary wants to be among the winners of the emerging new global era, the government wants an intelligence service that is strong in European terms and central Europe's strongest.
In a briefing to parliament’s national security committee, Minister Szijjártó said the pandemic, its effects on the economy and changes on the international political scene had “fundamentally disrupted the status quo in every area”. This, he said, had left countries jostling for position to be among the winners of the new era of the global economy and global politics. Whenever the status quo is disrupted, the ability of countries to enforce their interests becomes all the more significant, Minister Szijjártó said. In such times of change the use of covert techniques becomes more important than under normal circumstances, as do intelligence services, he added.
As regards the appointment of Zsolt Bunford to head the Information Office (IH), Hungary’s civilian intelligence agency focused on intelligence gathering operations primarily abroad, Minister Szijjártó said Bunford was expected to devote special attention to protecting the country’s sovereignty. Another key aim, he said, was for the IH to allocate more resources towards boosting Hungary’s competitiveness and attracting more foreign investments.
The minister said the IH had gathered 60 percent more data over the past year than the preceding period, even though it was hampered by pandemic restrictions. The office, he added, had also made progress in its cooperation with its foreign partners.
Asked by the Socialist Party’s Zsolt Molnár about the situation of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region, Minister Szijjártó said that despite the government’s efforts, their situation was unchanged. Though Kiev at high-level meetings regularly promises to treat ethnic Hungarians better, these promises are usually followed by adverse measures on their part, he said.
Photo credit: MTI/Lajos Soós