Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union foreign and defence ministers, Szijjártó said the Hungarian government regards the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency as “good news”.

The minister underlined that intentionally he had not taken part in Sunday’s informal meeting of EU foreign ministers for political reasons.

He said the view of the American people must be respected, even if their decision does not happen to coincide with the European political and media elite.

“Strange is the liberal-democratic view that as long as people decide in a way the elite favours the state of democracy is in good working order; when, however, the decision rides against the wishes of the elite then they convene a crisis meeting…” he said.

The election of Trump is “expressly good news for the world” since the views of the president-elect on the “export of democracy” are “favourable for the world”, he said, adding that the export of democracy “without limits” in the past had caused “a lot of trouble”.

Various parts of the world have different histories, cultures and traditions, and these should be taken into consideration, he said.

MTI Fotó: Máthé Zoltán

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.