Speaking at a hearing of parliament's foreign affairs committee, Szijjarto said Hungary had been paying the price of the war raging in Ukraine for two and a half years.

"After a thousand days, the European political elite should realise that the question is not what we think about the war, because everyone knows that exactly; the question is how to ensure peace, or more precisely, which path will lead to peace the fastest," he said.

The minister said the pro-war stan'ce followed so far had failed, and weapons deliveries had not brought the end of the conflict closer, so it would be time to give pro-peace policy a chance in order to avoid escalation and a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

He insisted that outside of the "transatlantic bubble", pro-peace forces were in the majority, and Hungary was also part of this majority, even if those who held this position were called "Putin's puppets or Kremlin propagandists" in Europe.

Szijjarto went on to point to what he considered attempts to limit national sovereignty in many parts of the world, including Hungary.

"Last week, we all had the chance to watch the debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where the wish of who should be in government, who and how should govern in Hungary, was expressed more clearly and more shamelessly than ever before," he said.

"I believe that such an attempt at open intervention is unprecedented, even in the recent history of European politics, and must be rejected as firmly as possible. It is not up to international political actors, Manfred Weber or Ursula von der Leyen, to decide who governs in Hungary, but Hungarian voters," Szijjarto added.

Finally, the minister touched on the issue of trade neutrality, reiterating that Hungary was against the formation of blocs and against launching a new trade "cold" war. Instead, was is interested in connectivity and creating trade ties, he said.

He cited Hungary as an example of the growth potential held by civilised East-West cooperation, insisting the country had become a key hub for Eastern and Western economies thanks to its "pragmatic, patriotic foreign policy".

Szijjarto: Ukraine in NATO would lead to third world war

Admitting Ukraine to NATO would cross a Hungarian "red line" since this would lead to a third world war, the foreign minister said, briefing parliament's foreign affairs committee on Thursday.

The accession of Ukraine at war would lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and the alliance, Peter Szijjarto, said in response to MPs' questions.

Several allies had encouraged Ukraine to believe in its prospective NATO membership, which he called "a humiliation of Ukraine" since in closed NATO sessions it was generally agreed that "this is not possible".

Meanwhile, he said Hungary opposed military advisers from the European Union in Ukraine because sending them would lead to escalation.

Also, he said Hungary rejected extending the review period of the sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia from six months to three years, because doing so would raise public expectations of a never-ending war "which we find unacceptable".

When it comes to punitive measures that may harm national interests, Hungary objects to sanctions on, for example, natural gas and nuclear fuel, adding that many slammed Hungary in this regard, yet European imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) had grown by 11 percent in the first half of the year, while France alone had increased Russian LNG import volume by 110 percent.

Regarding Russian crude, he said Hungary vetoed the EU measure to ban crude imports, and Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia had won an exemption accordingly. Meanwhile, India, "if I recall correctly", increased Russian crude oil imports twenty-fold, while Europe's oil imports from India had tripled, he added.

Last year, Szijjarto said, the US continued to rely on Russian supplies of uranium, yet Hungary was accused of being pro-Russian in light of the project to expand its Paks nuclear power plant in which US, German, French, and Austrian subcontractors worked alongside Russian nuclear contractor Rosatom.

Szijjarto: US FDI in Hungary plays 'big role' in ensuring economic neutrality

Companies from the United States form the second-biggest group of investors in Hungary and play a "big role" in ensuring the country's economic neutrality, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said at a USHBC roundtable talk in Budapest on Thursday.

In a statement issued by his ministry, Szijjarto said the government was constantly working to improve conditions to draw more investments to Hungary. He acknowledged challenges in recent years, especially the impact of the war in Ukraine, which required a focus on bringing down inflation instead of spurring economic growth in 2023, but said Hungary was "back on track" and the government was ready to give "new impetus" to the economy.

"We want to achieve growth of between 3pc and 6pc next year," he said, pointing to big investments in the pipeline, including new local manufacturing capacity of German car makers BMW and Mercedes, and plants of Chinese battery maker CATL and EV manufacturer BYD.

Adopting a strategy of economic neutrality, Hungary's government aims to draw investments from all corners of the world, he added.

Szijjarto said Hungary had become a kind of "meeting point" for the economies of the East and the West and spoke out against efforts to decouple those economies. He added that those efforts were "far from reality" as mutual dependence was increasing.

He noted that Hungary was one of just three countries in the world that was home to plants of all three premium German car brands, while it had also welcomed manufacturing capacity of five of the world's top ten Asian battery manufacturers.

"For us, economic neutrality means that in Hungary, an American can work together with anybody, be they Chinese, Indian, Korean, Dutch or German. It doesn't matter to us, as long as they follow the rules and want to invest here, it's alright with us," he said.

Szijjarto: Rule of law in Poland exposes EU leaders' 'double standards'

The state of the rule of law in Poland exposes European Union leaders' double standards towards Hungary, the foreign minister told parliament's foreign affairs committee on Thursday.

"If liberal parties lead a country, then it is a democracy and whatever happens there is all well and good, but if non-liberal parties lead a country, suddenly it's not a democracy," Peter Szijjarto said, according to a ministry statement.

"All I can say about the state of Polish rule of law is that if one-tenth of such incidents were to happen here in Hungary, then [EC president] Ursula von der Leyen, I think, would have already ... proposed sending peacekeeping troops," he said.

He decried the fact that the Patriots for Europe, to which Hungarian governing parties belong, had not been given any positions in the European Parliament, even though the Patriots are the third largest EP group.

"Is this Brussels benchmark what parliamentary democracy is really about, and should the Hungarian parliament also follow it? The third biggest force is excluded from everything..." he said.

"So when Brussels and Strasbourg educate us on democracy ... I think it's justified to say, give us a break," he added.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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