FM Szijjarto: If Ukraine aspires for EU membership, it must guarantee the rights of ethnic minorities

Hungary’s parliament is slated to decide on ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO this autumn, as the government has already submitted the relevant documents, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told Turkish channel TRT World in an interview. Regrettably, Hungary has become the “target and victim” of this political dispute, he added. Speaking about the war in Ukraine, he said “the sooner the war ends, the fewer Ukrainians and Ukrainian Hungarians will die”. He stressed that Hungary expects Ukraine to restore the minority rights of the Hungarian community living there.

Budapest, 2023. augusztus 18. Szijjártó Péter külgazdasági és külügyminiszter rendkívüli sajtótájékoztatót tart a minisztériumban 2023. augusztus 18-án. A tárcavezető elmonda: diplomáciai csúcsüzemet is magával hoz a budapesti atlétikai világbajnokság, számos vezető érkezik a napokban munkalátogatásra, többek között a szerb, a török, az azeri, a kirgiz, az üzbég, a türkmén elnök és a katari emír. MTI/Soós Lajos Fotó: Soós Lajos

Speaking about Hungary's ban on grain imports from Ukraine, Peter Szijjarto noted that  it was regrettable that Russia had backed out of the Black Sea grain export deal earlier this month, despite efforts by Turkiye and personally President Erdogan to keep the deal afloat. Hungary has always kept solidarity corridors open, contributing to Ukrainian grain being delivered to African and Middle Eastern countries, he said. Some of the grain, however, remained in Hungary rather than being transported to the countries in need.

Hungary's government will continue to keep transit routes for Ukrainian grain exports. However, the large quantities of cheap Ukrainian grain arriving in Hungary - intended for poor African countries at risk of starvation -  threatened to ruin Hungarian markets and farmers, as the cost of grain production is much higher in Hungary than in Ukraine due to strict EU regulations. 

Regarding Hungary’s energy security, FM Szijjarto highlighted the importance of the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipeline project, noting that Hungary has helped to build the TurkStream pipeline — alongside Russia, Turkiye, Bulgaria and Serbia — which is now capable of delivering 8.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Hungary,

Hungary started diversifying its energy resources long before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he emphasized.  Besides Russia, the most important players to provide Hungary’s energy mix will be Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Qatar, he said. Under the latest agreement with the Turkish oil and gas company BOTAS, Hungary will receive nearly 300 million cubic meters of gas next year, he said, pointing out that this will be the first time that Turkiye will not only be a transit, but also a source country.

Since Qatar’s order book is full until 2026, Hungary will be able to purchase Qatari natural gas for the first time in 2027. The political will exists and business negotiations are  underway with Qatargas LNG, Peter Szijjarto said.

The delivery of Qatari and Azeri gas would require significant developments in regional infrastructure, but the EU is dragging its feet on providing funding, he said. Instead, regional states like Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Greece and Turkiye have started negotiations on capacity development investments to enable large gas deliveries to these countries, Peter Szijjarto highlighted. 

Cover photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto speaking at an extraordinary press conference at the ministry on 18 August 2023. (Photo: MTI/Lajos Soos)