“Though the international liberal mainstream has been aggressively attacking Hungarian standpoints on many issues, our country has been right over and over again,” announced Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Monday at the Hungarian ambassadors annual meeting.
According to the ministry’s briefing, the Foreign Minister emphasized that,
the record-breaking election win for the governing parties is also a significant confirmation of Hungarian foreign policy and should encourage an even stronger implementation of the strategy utilized thus far.
He pointed out an important lesson: “In the past few years we had to fend off continuous attacks as our governing strategy goes against the foundations of the international liberal mainstream. Thus, we obviously cannot hope for any form of mercy or support. But we do not even want it anyways, nor do we need it.”
He highlighted that in the recent past, Hungary has been right on every significant issue.
“It turns out that our positions and decisions that were relentlessly attacked by the mainstream were the right positions and decisions,”
– he said. He mentioned four key examples: Hungary’s decisive action against migration, effective procural of coronavirus vaccines regardless of the source, investment support instead of aid, and staying out of the war in Ukraine.
Péter Szijjártó declared that a foreign policy based on enforcing national interests is a successful foreign policy; it also requires a great deal of wit but clearly, it brings results. He expressed that their foreign policy approach is based on mutual respect and the goal is to build the best possible relations for the development of Hungary.
“We do not send ambassadors anywhere with the purpose of intervening into domestic affairs, to try and tell others how to do things because that has nothing to do with us,” – he stated, adding that this also goes the other way around. “Going forward we will continue to not tolerate representatives of other countries who come here to tell us how to do things better or teach us a different way of life. No thanks, we do not want any of that,” he warned.
The Foreign Minister said that we are experiencing an age of crises and dangers and we must strive to protect our country from the negative impact; to do this, it is necessary to identify all threats.
He highlighted the war and its associated security risks, confirming that Hungary will continue to abstain from transporting weapons to Ukraine. He also cited the economic downturn caused by the war as a big challenge but welcomed the fact that, despite this, the export and investment peak was surpassed once more this year.