Hungary FM: Donald Trump Is the Only One Who Can Persuade Warring Sides to End the War

Donald Trump’s return to office will put an end to the tyranny of liberal opinion and bring hope for the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told Magyar Nemzet. According to the minister, Hungary’s EU presidency was an unprecedented success, and the fact that the Patriots have emerged from nowhere to become the third-largest EP group is a meaningful signal for the EU.

With Donald Trump's taking office, a new era in global politics has begun. What can this change bring to the world?

First and foremost, there is now a leader in the Western world who is dismantling the global dictatorship of the international liberal mainstream. There is a leader who speaks openly and honestly about the importance of Christian values and communities, and openly and honestly states that peace is far better than war. These are all issues that were previously dominated entirely by the woke approach and the international liberal mainstream, which exercised a kind of dictatorship over public opinion on these issues. If someone spoke about peace rather than war, about the importance of Christian communities and family values rather than gender ideology, or took a stance against migration, they were immediately discredited, stigmatized, and excluded from international political discourse. In short, the world was ruled by a massive, international liberal tyranny of opinion—one that Donald Trump has now broken. For us, who have suffered under this dictatorship of opinion, I believe this is the best news possible.

US President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)

What can the new administration bring in terms of U.S.-Hungary relations?

A golden era. Over the past four years, U.S.-Hungary relations hit an absolute low point. I am not even sure whether our relations have ever been this bad since 1990. First of all, the Democratic administration continuously interfered in Hungary’s internal affairs, with the ambassador himself acting as its chief representative—practically playing the role of an opposition activist and involving himself in Hungary’s domestic political affairs on a daily basis. The Democratic government made no secret of its desire to destabilize the situation in Hungary, to see a different government in power, to change our policies, and to force us into a pro-war, pro-migration, and pro-gender agenda. Since we resisted, they could not comprehend or tolerate this, which led to the deterioration of our relations.

Now, with a U.S. president who sees the most important issues in global politics in the same or very similar way as we do, this political pressure has been lifted. With an American president in office who is cordial to us, we can remedy the damage done in recent years. 

The agreement on avoiding double taxation can be renegotiated, Hungary can reclaim its rightful place in the ESTA system, and the channels used to interfere in Hungarian political affairs will be shut down. Furthermore, the punitive measures imposed out of revenge by the Biden administration will also be subject to review. In short, I expect only good news in these areas.

One of the key issues on which Trump and the Hungarian government agree is the question of  ending the Russia-Ukraine war. How much could Trump’s peace efforts be hindered by the measures taken by his predecessor, President Joe Biden, in his final days in office, such as allowing U.S.-made long-range weapons to be used against Russian targets?

In my view, Donald Trump’s peace efforts face two major obstacles. First, the previous U.S. administration, breaking with established customs and the basic principles of political culture, took measures that run completely counter to the will of the new president and the majority who elected him. This speaks volumes about how the Democrats view democracy itself. The second obstacle is Europe's behavior. Liberal European politicians continue to push Ukraine deeper into the war, leading to further casualties and destruction.

Nevertheless, I believe that Donald Trump is the only politician in the world today with the credibility and strength necessary to persuade the warring sidess to end the war. That is why we have high expectations for the coming weeks and months—to see when and how Trump’s commendable efforts will yield results.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: Zoltan Havran)

Can you predict a timeline for this to happen?

That is difficult because the war has been raging for three years, and during this time, both sides have suffered enormous losses, destruction, and grievances. It is obvious that the parties will not voluntarily come to the negotiating table. That is why external pressure, encouragement, or inspiration is needed to make this happen—and that can only come from the U.S. president. However, it does not depend solely on him, as he is not the one fighting the war. We must also be aware that the reality of the battlefield differs significantly from the perception of the war. The battlefield reality favors Russia, as Russian forces continue to gain new territories day after day. So the question is: when can an agreement be reached that will bring an end to this war?

Staying with the topic of Ukraine, the country is seeking accession to the European Union, but has made decisions in recent times that endanger the energy security of several EU states, including Hungary. What does this say about the Ukrainian leadership, and what is the significance of the EU statement that was approved about two weeks ago?

Ukraine behaves as though it, not us, is a member of the European Union and NATO. In many cases, it speaks to us and other EU member states in an extremely aggressive and disrespectful manner. This is, of course, unacceptable. It also highlights the weakness of the European Union, because, in principle, European institutions, such as the European Commission, should stand by member states, not a candidate country. But it is clear that the European Commission, under Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership, has completely lost touch with reality.

This Commission has caused enormous damage to the EU over the past five years, and Ukraine’s accession would only exacerbate the situation. How can we seriously discuss the EU membership of a country that endangers the energy security of member states and regularly violates the rights of national minorities? I do not believe such a country can be seriously considered for EU membership when it is already undermining European security and the rights of its minorities even before accession negotiations have entered a serious phase.

That is why we demanded energy security guarantees from the European Commission, and not from Ukraine, because we have had enough of Ukrainian promises. At this point, it is Brussels’ responsibility to ensure that a candidate country does not play around with the entire European Union or jeopardize the energy security of individual member states.

Hungary's EU presidency has recently come to an end, during which significant results were achieved. How and through what battles were they achieved in such headwinds?

The opposition we encountered was, at times, downright childish—almost kindergarten-level. When the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs decides to hold an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels rather than Budapest, we can only shake our heads in disbelief. But when we took over the presidency, we set clear goals, including steps to enhance the EU’s competitiveness. We succeeded in securing a joint position on improving the EU’s competitiveness and assigning tasks to the Commission.

 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Photo: AFP)

How successful the Commission will be in implementing these remains to be seen, but the Council has done its job. We also pushed for the Western Balkans’ integration. We made significant progress with Montenegro and Albania—progress that had been stalled for years. Albania opened accession chapters, and Montenegro closed negotiated ones.

Another key goal was assisting Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession in a way that aligned with our national interests. Despite obstacles, we succeeded. I believe Hungary’s presidency was uniquely successful—I cannot recall a recent presidency that achieved comparable results.

What changes has the formation of the Patriots for Europe parliamentary group brought to European politics, and what are the most significant achievements of the party alliance so far?

First of all, anyone who still harbored naive illusions that liberals and the Left in Europe ignore the will of the people and look down on those who do not dance to their liberal tune. The third-largest group in the European Parliament has been formed, yet the liberal-leftist majority has excluded it from all European Union positions. We are often criticized for not implementing Brussels’ proposals or following its models. I think it is worth considering whether we should apply this Brussels-Strasbourg parliamentary model in Hungary as well.

We should learn from Brussels when it comes to parliamentary operations, and consider whether we should follow the Brussels model when distributing positions in the Hungarian parliament. After all, in the Hungarian parliament, MPs from opposition parties hold positions as deputy speaker, committee chairs and vice-chairs.  However, in the European Parliament, posts were denied from the third-largest political group. Interestingly, the Hungarian opposition does not protest this. If something similar happened in the Hungarian parliament, they would call in UN peacekeepers, claiming democracy was under attack.

Secondly, I see the formation of the Patriots group as a watershed moment because it emerged from nowhere to become the third-largest party group. This also shows that the rebellion against the prevailing Brussels cynicism, bureaucracy, woke ideology, and ideological dictatorship is growing stronger, and the Patriots group represents this resistance against Brussels.

The Patriots are gaining strength in Europe as well (Photo: MTI / Prime Minister’s Press Office / Zoltan Fischer)

And how can this change be implemented in practice? How can the deputy speaker and committee chair positions, which are traditionally granted on the basis of customs, be secured?

By winning elections and ensuring that in as many countries as possible, patriotic forces determine the political direction. Our Austrian sister party won the election, and all sorts of tactics are being used against them to prevent them from leading the country despite the democratic will of the people. Our Czech sister party has a good chance of winning the election in September, just as our Dutch sister party won the election and became the largest parliamentary force. Our Italian sister party is also part of the ruling coalition in Italy, and our French sister party won the most recent French parliamentary election.

In France, they received over a million more votes than the party in the second place, but due to the local electoral system, there is little correlation between the number of parliamentary seats and the votes cast. Interestingly, no one criticizes this, while every single rule or amendment in the Hungarian electoral system becomes the subject of international criticism. Essentially, what happened was that Le Pen's party received over a million more votes than the party coming second, yet secured dozens fewer parliamentary seats.

The same is true in Great Britain, where Reform UK has five MPs, while the Liberal Democrats have seventy-two, even though Reform UK received two percent more of the vote. But I say that this is none of our business—if the British are content with this, so be it. They should just not criticize our system, which much more accurately reflects the will of the people.

A growing number of European countries are saying no to illegal migration, especially in light of recent events. Do you see any chance that, at the European level, what the Hungarian government has long advocated—helping where the problem arises rather than bringing it here—will be implemented?

I believe that more and more people in Europe have come to recognize the dangers of illegal migration. Among the public, I think there is clear support for anti-migration policies. However, this has not yet reached the level of government policies. Just look at Germany, where surveys show that seventy percent of people demand stricter measures against illegal migration, yet political decisions to enforce this are still not being made. In Hungary, governance is based on the will of the people, and Hungarian citizens made it clear in a referendum that they do not want illegal migration. That is why we prevent it, we stop it, and regardless of Europe’s migration policies, as long as we are in government, illegal migrants will not be allowed to enter Hungary.

Illegal migrants arrive in Europe en masse (Photo: NurPhoto via AFP)

Regarding Germany, in light of the upcoming elections, do you see any chance that this will change?

We do not know. One thing is certain: in German politics, the party that represents the future, Alternative for Germany, holds a position on migration very similar to ours. Clearly, if this party gains influence over future German government policy, change can be expected, which would be good for us. After all, if Europe’s strongest country adopts a migration policy similar to ours, that is good news for us.

If you had to highlight a single foreign policy goal for Hungary this year, what would it be?

It would be to support the growth of the Hungarian economy as much as possible through foreign policy and foreign trade efforts. Due to the geopolitical situation, as a country within the European Union and on the European continent, Hungary has faced extraordinary challenges. Consider that the sanctions imposed because of the war and the rise in energy prices led to inflation, which entailed a had fight to protect people or at least to mitigate its impact on their daily lives. Consider how these sanctions, which caused inflation, took away development and growth opportunities from Hungary and the Hungarian people! Now we must work to regain these opportunities. Now we must work to regain these opportunities, if I may put it that way. Our goal remains to implement the strategy of economic neutrality so that foreign policy can continue to bolster Hungary’s economic growth trajectory this year. And from this perspective, we see very positive signs, as investments coming into Hungary are increasing significantly from all directions.

Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: Zoltan Havran)