Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the threat of the outbreak of a third world has never been as great as it is now.
Speaking in New York on Wednesday, the foreign minister underlined the need for an urgent end to the war in Ukraine and the success of the counter-terrorism operations in the Middle East. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Minister Szijjártó said global security was in its worst shape since the end of the second world war, and that the threat of a third world war had never been as great as it was now. The UN, he added, must therefore spearhead all counter-terrorism and peace efforts. According to a ministry statement, Szijjártó also spoke out against the re-emergence of geopolitical blocs, saying that the longer it takes to settle the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East, the greater the chance of a return to a world of blocs would be. Central Europe and Hungary had already lost out on such a divide in the past, he said, urging connectivity and mutually beneficial cooperation. Szijjártó said this required bringing back mutual respect into international politics. This, he added, was key to turning “an age of dangers” into “an age of peace and sustainable development”. He said the UN needed to take the lead in this effort.
The foreign minister said Hungary wanted the war in Ukraine to come to an end as soon as possible and the anti-terror operations in the Middle East to be successful. The UN’s most important responsibility, he said, was to stand up for peace and aid the success of the fight against terror. Szijjártó also warned against the risk of escalation in both conflicts. He said that if just one other country got involved in any of the two conflicts, “these conflicts will not be stopped at the border of that given country” and the threat of a regional or global war would become realistic. The minister said the success of the counter-terrorism operations in Gaza was a global interest. Szijjártó said the more countries supplied weapons to Ukraine, the longer the war would last, the more casualties and the greater destruction there would be. The minister expressed hope that the voice of the “global pro-peace majority” could grow louder and louder in the UN against the “war psyche” of the transatlantic world. “You can count on Hungary as a true ally when it comes to standing up for peace, when it comes to saving the lives of people and when it comes to fighting terrorist organisations,” the minister said.