If Sweden does its part in restoring mutual respect in its bilateral relations with Hungary, then members of the Hungarian Parliament will certainly consider accelerating the NATO ratification process, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said in Budva, Montenegro, on Friday. At the 2BS (To Be Secure) annual security policy forum, according to the statement by the ministry, the FM underlined that the government had already submitted a proposal to Parliament last year on the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership, so now it is up to the body to decide on the future of the process.
He pointed out that the representatives had obtained their mandates in a democratic competition, with many ruling party legislators having received the support of the people four, five, and even six times, and have been working for their constituents' interests for decades. Despite this, they have to repeatedly keep hearing from hundreds of kilometers away that they got into the National Assembly through an undemocratic, illegitimate, autocratic and dictatorial process, he pointed out.
The Swedes are urging the ratification of their NATO membership, while all we hear from them is that there is no democracy in Hungary. This is unacceptable and is an insult, he said, adding that if Sweden is ready to course correct bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect, then the lawmakers will certainly be ready to speed up ratification.
Speaking about the Hungarian government's position on the war in Ukraine, the foreign minister stressed that Hungary's situation is unique because of the 155,000-strong Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, with many having fallen victim to the fighting.
We Hungarians do not want more people, more Hungarians to die,
he said, recalling that the majority of EU and NATO member states believe that the time is not yet right for a settlement on the battlefield, while Hungary believes that the longer the war continues, the worse the conditions will be.
The chances of peace are better today than they were yesterday and worse than they will be tomorrow,
he said, adding that maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a neighboring country is a given, and that's not what the Hungarian government is talking about, but about stopping the fighting and destruction. Minister Szijjarto said he has met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov several times since the outbreak of the war, because it is crucial to maintain channels of dialogue, without which even the hope of peace is being abandoned. He then pointed out that the Hungarian government condemns the war, which, unlike other Western politicians, he himself made clear to about a thousand people in Moscow.
The minister then touched on Western Balkans-EU integration, criticizing that while representatives of certain member states often express their deep concern over other great powers gaining influence in the region, the accession process is not progressing.
Mr Szijjarto underlined that the EU could easily solve this problem by admitting countries in the region as members as soon as possible. He considers it shocking that the European Council president had recently mentioned 2030 as the year for this, and he noted that that might be too late.
When asked about the Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, he said that the EU should talk directly to the leaders of the Western Balkans, and not about them.
He stressed that Dodik was elected by the people, and the results of the elections must be respected, while also pointing out that it is in Hungary's absolute interest to maintain the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that the best guarantee for this would be EU membership.
Cover photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Source: Facebook/ Peter Szijjarto)
