At a joint press conference with his Georgian counterpart, the Hungarian foreign minister pointed out that Maka Botchorishvili's first foreign visit was to Hungary, which had come at a time when both countries constantly have to fight to preserve their sovereignty amid the current extraordinary security challenges.
He underscored that
Hungary and Georgia are both led by patriotic governments against which the liberal mainstream has launched serious ideological and political attacks.
FM Szijjarto congratulated Georgia's ruling party on its recent election victory, saying the voters in the South Caucasus country have made their will clear.
They elected a pro-peace, pro-family, patriotic conservative government, and as it usually happens in a case like this, the liberal mainstream got upset over this. Because typically, if an election is won by a conservative, patriotic party, the liberal mainstream immediately questions the democratic nature of the political system, and if it’s won by a liberal party, they celebrate the fantastic rule of democracy,
he said. He took the view that the situation is the same in Georgia, arguing that if the opposition had won "Brussels would be saying that democracy has never been in better shape," but now they are trying to ignore the will of the people and are questioning the outcome of the election.
This is a very repulsive, undisguised, and now boring game of the liberal mainstream, which we reject,
he pointed out.
Peter Szijjarto reaffirmed his support for Georgia's European Union aspirations, underlining that Budapest would provide all the help it could to speed up the process, but Brussels’s approach, he added, is alienating the country.
He criticized a recent resolution approved by the European Parliament concerning Georgia, which, he said, took "a humiliating tone towards an entire nation".
We reject this (... ) The European Parliament has a pro-war, liberal, left-wing majority which constantly attacks those who speak openly about peace,
he said. He also noted that
minutes ago, Brussels put forward a proposal to impose sanctions on Georgia's interior minister and two of its police officials.
"This is nonsensical, outrageous and totally uncalled for. Hungary firmly opposes placing Georgian government officials on sanctions lists, and if such a proposal is drafted, we will, of course, veto it," Peter Szijjarto said.
He encouraged Georgians to continue to stand up for themselves and their national sovereignty. "Our experience over the past 14-15 years shows that we should always look at what people want, not what they want to impose on us from outside, from different centers of power," he said.
As regards bilateral relations, he welcomed the progress made on the implementation of a strategic partnership agreement signed two years ago.
Bilateral trade turnover is up 34 percent this year, and Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air remains a market leader in Georgia’s air travel sector, Peter Szijjarto said. Hungarian pharmaceutical exports to Georgia are on the rise, Hungary offers university scholarships to eighty Georgian students each year, and the two countries are working to enable the central European import of green energy, he added.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili (Source: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto)
