Hungary FM: Our Country Is Living Proof That Sovereignty Is an Existential Issue

The battle continues domestically and in Brussels, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told audiences at the Tranzit Festival.

Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto gives talk entitled "Where is our place - Hungary's room for maneuver in foreign policy" at the Tranzit Festival in Tihany on August 24, 2024.(Photo: MTI/Csaba Krizsan)

"We have created a tradition in which we simultaneously hold a foreign policy review at the end of the summer and also take stock of the tasks that lie ahead in the next few months", Peter Szijjarto prefaced his assessment of Hungary's foreign policy scene in his presentation at the Tranzit Festival. The foreign minister stated that these are turbulent times politically, and that foreign policy has become a visibly more contentious area, making continued support crucial.

If we had not had that support in recent years, Hungarian foreign policy would be in a much more depressing state,

he noted.

There is room for maneuver within Hungary's foreign policy strategy, he stressed, adding that this space is expanding because Hungary continues to have a sovereign foreign policy. The past year's struggle to preserve the country's sovereignty had been successful, but had required an arduous and bloody fight.

It is worth examining why pursuing a sovereign foreign policy requires such a battle. If we look back at the past year - and we need look no further than our our immediate surroundings -, we can see that the world has become an even more dangerous place.

The risk of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war has intensified, the entire Middle East is on fire and illegal migrants are besieging Europe, the FM said, indicating that these developments are causing not only political but also economic turbulence, and European competitiveness is steadily plummeting. He also noted that a democratic deficit has developed in Europe, as the liberal mainstream is seeking to establish a dictatorial hegemony and is trying to exclude from the political and social arena all other ways of thinking.

Based on the methods utilized by the liberals, they are not only seeking to displace opponents of the mainstream politically, legally and economically, but also through physical annihilation, as evidenced by the assassination attempts on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, he stressed.

The liberal mainstream wants to create a post-sovereign era in which a country's foreign policy is irrelevant and furthermore, they classify what is old as a failure,

the FM added.

In Peter Szijjarto's view, sovereignty is the only successful path, and "our country is living proof that preserving sovereignty is a matter of life and death, making Hungary the antithesis of the liberal mainstream". The struggle has been successful so far, he said, adding that it is ongoing, both at home and in Brussels and that sovereignty can only be defended together with the Hungarian people. The minister recalled that this year's elections had brought about sweeping changes.

We clocked historic success in the European Parliament elections, as no one has ever won two million votes in Hungary's EP elections,

he stressed.

He indicated that it is necessary to take stock of the potential attacks expected on Hungary's sovereign foreign policy in the coming year. According to the minister, the political, physical, energy and economic security of our country will be under attack. He said that the strongest line of defense against political attacks has already been established in Brussels with the creation of the Patriots' Group in the European Parliament.

On the question of physical security, he said that Hungary had become the last obstacle to the untethered raging of war psychosis in Europe, but that the efforts of escalationists were also laying our country on the line. According to Szijjarto, the Hungarian peace mission has shown that although there is no solution to the war on the battlefield, there is still a chance for it to end at the negotiating table. He said that if the Democrats win in the US presidential election, the pressure on our country will be greater than ever before.

On energy security, he said that the word 'hypocrisy' best characterizes the behind the scenes, close cooperation between the EU and Russia. He recalled that Hungary had just barely managed to scrape out an exemption from oil sanctions. Meanwhile, the failure of the EU to protect Hungary and Slovakia after the Ukrainians cut off oil supplies to our country was a sign of the Bloc's fatal weakness.

The EU did not defend our country in that situation, indicating that the Ukrainian government was instructed by Brussels to make such a move,

the minister said. On the Paks investment, he said that it would enable Hungary to decouple itself from developments on the international market.

On economic security, he indicated that the Hungarian government is openly and honestly stating that the decoupling of the economies of the East and the West has been a total failure, causing more problems for the West than for the East. He believed that the current Polish government is the most subversive regarding this issue, the minister said, remarking that while the Poles quietly continue to buy Russian oil, they should not criticize those countries who do so honestly.

It is important that we continue to attract modern Eastern and Western investment to our country,

he said.

In closing his presentation, Peter Szijjarto said that Hungarian sovereignty will continue to come under attack in the future, but each attack successfully defended against will expand Hungary's room for maneuver in foreign policy.

Cover photo: Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto gives talk entitled "Where is our place - Hungary's room for maneuver in foreign policy" at the Tranzit Festival in Tihany on August 24, 2024.(Photo: MTI/Csaba Krizsan)