Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the world is again becoming divided into blocks, partly as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, and this harms European and Hungarian interests.
Speaking in Geneva on Wednesday, the foreign minister told a forum of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) dealing with sustainable development that dialogue and connectivity are needed instead. Minister Szijjártó slammed moves to break East-West economic ties, arguing that severing cooperation between Europe and China would “knock out” the European economy. He insisted that large Western car manufacturers involved in electromobility were highly dependent on Eastern partners. The cost of the war in Ukraine was also evident in skyrocketing food and energy prices and a big dent in European competitiveness, he said. With constant arms deliveries and nuclear threats, the risk of the war’s escalation was greater than ever, he said, adding that the consequences would be felt “in our immediate vicinity”, with further victims of the war within the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, too. The minister said that saving lives was a top priority for Hungary, and for this to happen, peace must be created. Minister Szijjártó called for “rationality and common sense” in solving problems instead of “ideological and dogmatic approaches”.