Hungary FM: The Questions Nobody Ever Asks

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, posed sharp questions to Peter Magyar, highlighting what he called a glaring contradiction between Magyar’s current criticisms of the government and his previous enthusiastic support for Fidesz. Szijjarto remarked that Magyar is rarely if ever confronted with such "uncomfortable questions".

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister (Photo: Zoltan Mathe /MTI)

Szijjarto found it difficult to understand how someone who for long years had celebrated the government’s achievements now claims the system in Hungary is “horrible.” He continued:

Why did you accept those jobs? Why did you applaud? Why did you insist on sitting in the front at every Fidesz event? Why did you want to be in the prime minister’s inner circle—if everything was so terrible and we were as corrupt as you now say? What was going on for all those years?

Szijjarto also criticized the media for not confronting Magyar with these questions and expressed frustration that such inconsistencies are not being publicly scrutinized.

Why doesn't anyone ask him these questions? 'Dear Mr Party President, how many annual speeches did you attend and sit in the front row? Why did you enthusiastically applaud the prime minister? Why did you repeatedly say that everything was going fantastically in Hungary, and now insist that that everything that has happened over the recent years is horrible?' We have excellent journalists in this country, at least in the countryside I find that at least twenty questions are asked at every press conference. Why are these particular questions never put to Peter Magyar?

“This isn’t merely about a political U-turn. It’s a serious question of credibility, and it's high time it was properly addressed,” Szijjarto concluded.

Cover photo: Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister (Photo: Zoltan Mathe /MTI)