Hungary’s FM provides honest evaluation of Ursula von der Leyen’s term + video

There is no chance that Brussels will reconsider its sanctions policy or back down from it, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in response to a question from Magyar Nemzet. The minister held a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Budapest. In addition to cooperation between the two countries, they talked about the issue of Ukraine's accession to the European Union, the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia and the results of Ursula von der Leyen's term so far as president of the European Commission.

Szijjártó Péter az azeri külügyminiszterrel tárgyalt Fotó: Koszticsák Szilárd

“If we look back over the past few years, we can see that the closer the cooperation between Hungary and Azerbaijan, the more we benefit from it, both in terms of the security of our country's energy supply and in terms of keeping the economy on a growth path," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a joint press briefing with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ceyhun Bayramov in Budapest on Monday.

I was glad to sign the Protocol of the 1st Strategic Dialogue meeting btw Republic of #Azerbaijan & #Hungary together w/my counterpart Minister Péter Szijjártó during my official visit to 🇭🇺. pic.twitter.com/DWc8gOat2w

— Jeyhun Bayramov (@Bayramov_Jeyhun) September 4, 2023

The Hungarian government considers it a primary tasks to make steady progress in energy diversification, and Azerbaijan is a key player in that, the minister underlined.

It is good news that after years of negotiations, physical gas flows between Azerbaijan and Hungary started this year,

the foreign minister pointed out. The parties had previously agreed on the purchase of 100 million cubic meters of natural gas and the storage of another 50 million cubic meters in Hungary. The government wants to increase this to around one billion cubic meters a year, he added.

Whether it becomes reality, however, is not up to us, but to the European Union.

the minister said. Mr Szijjarto added that currently the gas transmission infrastructure in south-eastern Europe does not have sufficient capacity to meet the diversification needs of central Europe, but Brussels is not willing to help finance its expansion. 

Therefore, Brussels has lost any legal basis to have a say in where the countries of Central Europe, including Hungary, buy their gas from,

he underlined.

The minister said that Azerbaijan was a very important partner for Hungary, not only in terms of energy but also the economy. “Our trade turnover in the first half of the year was already twice as high as in the whole of last year," he pointed out, adding that Hungarian companies are playing an important role in the reconstruction of the Azerbaijani territories that were retaken from Armenia in the autumn of 2020.

A settlement will be built entirely with the help of Hungarian companies, creating significant employment opportunities for the country’s construction sector.

A reliable partner

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov praised the wide-ranging cooperation between the two countries. On top of economic and energy partnerships, it is also successful in the fields of education, culture, pharmaceuticals and sport, he said. He congratulated Hungary on the successful organization of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

In response to a question from Magyar Nemzet, Ceyhun Bayramov said that Azerbaijan has always been a reliable partner for European countries in terms of energy supply, previously transporting oil and now natural gas to the continent.

The state will export more than 8 million cubic meters of natural gas to European countries in 2021, 11.4 million cubic meters in 2022 and more than 12.5 million cubic meters this year, the foreign minister said. He added that in cooperation with partners, every effort would be made to meet the annual delivery of 20 million cubic meters of natural gas, as agreed between the European Commission and Baku last July.

No chance of changing sanctions policy

Responding to a question from Magyar Nemzet, FM Szijjarto said that the EU's sanctions policy had clearly failed and that the European people were suffering more than Russia. In recent weeks, a growing number of people in the West have said that the punitive measures are ineffective and that the sanctions regime should be reconsidered, the most recent one being Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

There are personal and political reasons why Brussels will not back down from its sanctions policy,

the minister explained. Such a decision would be an admission of the failure of the punitive measures and EU leaders would have to take responsibility for this, which they clearly want to avoid.

Europe has lost a lot with Ursula von der Leyen

Asked who the Hungarian government would like to see at the helm of the European Commission after Ursula von der Leyen's mandate expires, Peter Szijjarto said that this should be discussed after next year's European Parliament elections. He added, however, that Europe had lost a lot with Ms. von der Leyen's presidency. 

2022 was the first year in which China's share of world GDP was greater than that of the European Union.

said the minister. He pointed out that during his time in office, the threads of East-West cooperation have been cut one by one, but no one has come up with an alternative path to the previous European economic growth model based on cheap Russian energy. 

Not to mention the fact that the European Commission (EC) constantly puts Poland and Hungary at a disadvantage compared to other European countries, the FM added. This is a serious discrimination that the EC President cannot afford.

he stressed.

Kiev tramples on the rights of national minorities

Answering a journalist's question on Ukraine's accession to the EU, the minister said it was not right for the Hungarian government to support the opening of accession negotiations with a state that tramples on the rights of national minorities.

All we want is the restoration of the rights that Hungarians in Transcarpathia had before 2015,

said Peter Szijjarto. If that happens, he we will be very happy to discuss Hungary’s position on Ukraine’s accession, he added. For the time being, however, it seems that the Ukrainian authorities are not doing everything to ensure that. As an example, he cited fact that the Hungarian anthem was not allowed to be played at the opening ceremonies of the school year in Transcarpathian schools.

Cover photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (right) and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov at a press conference following their talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 4 September. (Photo: MTI/Szilard Koszticsak)