Hungary has been elected a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, it has been reported today.
Politics.hu reveals that in the General Assembly, 144 member states voted for Hungary’s three-year membership, and the country got the position ahead of Croatia and Russia.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, hailed the decision as a “huge success”. The large number of votes for Hungary truly indicates that “despite the insults, attacks and false allegations published by the foreign media, the world believes that we have a place in the Human Rights Council,” he said.
The minister said that Hungary would play an active role in the human rights body during its term from 2017 to 2019.
Hungary will “take a stand for enforcing human rights and democracy all over the world” and for the international community to get an “authentic picture about all countries”, he said.
“We should not allow any forces in the East and the West to besmirch any country as they have tried to discredit us over the past few years. We will work for that in the Human Rights Council," Szijjártó said.
Hungary has been a member of the 47-strong body before, between 2009 and 2012.