The past year was the year in which the European Union remained isolated, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said during a parliamentary hearing. He added that Brussels' irritation with Hungary was due to the fact that the union "is no longer a player in global politics", the Hungarian news agency MTI reported, quoted by BTA.
“The EU no longer has a role in resolving conflicts on the continent”, Szijjártó told the parliament's foreign policy committee. “The fact that he has been removed in this way explains the irritation in European remarks, which show that they do not know what to do with the leader of a Central European country who does not want Western Europe is allowed to pursue a foreign policy based on national interests,“ said Szijjártó.
According to him, this is a consequence of “Brussels's ideological foreign policy, built on illusions and political prejudices“. “Today, the EU is pursuing a pro-war, pro-migration and pro-gender foreign policy strategy, and thus is completely isolated from global politics“, the minister said.
Szijjártó said that liberal mainstream politicians have been competing for years “who can say the harshest words to US President Donald Trump, so it is no wonder that in the end the EU concluded an extremely unfavorable tariff agreement with the US“.
Meanwhile, Budapest's number one diplomat said that the EU is also becoming increasingly isolated from China. According to him, the European Commission has “crossed all limits“, describing China as “systemic opponent“, noting that the EU should instead follow Hungary's example and seek fruitful cooperation with Beijing.
Szijjártó criticized the sanctions against Russia, saying that they eliminate the growth model based on the combination of advanced Western technology and cheap Eastern energy.
“The fact that Europeans have to pay double and triple what American economic players pay for gas is not the solution, nor is the fact that European businesses pay four or five times what their Chinese counterparts pay for electricity“, he said.
“We have adopted 19 packages of sanctions in the last four years and the Russian economy has never been brought to its knees. On the other hand, we have caused very serious problems for Europe with skyrocketing energy prices, among other things“, the minister added.
Szijjártó criticized the EU for becoming increasingly more isolated from some African and Asian countries, having failed to conclude free trade and investment protection agreements with them. He said this was due to the fact that the EU “constantly tries to impose unrelated topics in such agreements“.
“What does Brussels' gender ideology have to do with trade cooperation? With this ideological approach, we are failing to conclude agreements that would be in the EU's interest“, he said.
Meanwhile, he welcomed Donald Trump's peace plan as “a huge opportunity“ to end the war in Ukraine. “Hungarians fully support this. But let's not be naive. The Europeans will do everything in their power to fail this, as they have failed all peace efforts so far“, Szijjártó said.
He said that if the conflict is not resolved through diplomacy, the situation “it will get worse every day“.
“I think it is time for Europeans to support peace. Of course, we have Hungary as a place to organize peace talks. Both the American and Russian presidents have made it clear to Prime Minister Orbán that preparations are underway and as soon as a situation arises where such a meeting can end with an agreement, they will come to Budapest“, concluded Szijjártó.