Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said , that it is Hungary's "sovereign right to negotiate with whoever it wants," reports the European edition of Politico, quoted by Focus.
Budapest's top diplomat was speaking from Belarus, where he is staying until Thursday to speak at the Minsk Conference on Eurasian Security. Among the other participants in the meeting are Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabagh.
Szijjártó's trip to the eastern alternative to the Munich Security Conference has raised alarm among Hungary's NATO allies, with the United States embassy summoning the alliance's ambassadors to discuss Orbán's policy of “economic sovereignty”.
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Nevertheless, Szijjártó continued to promote the policy in his keynote speech on Thursday, addressing the conference audience in Russian.
During his 14-minute speech, Szijjártó did not mention Ukraine or speak specifically about the war, noting only that “Europe and Hungary are facing one of the most serious conflicts since World War II”. Instead, he emphasized the importance of “Eurasian cooperation” and “unity in the Eurasian region“.
After his speech, Szijjártó held a conversation with Lavrov, according to his video statement, Budapest seeks to increase “rational“ economic cooperation with Moscow in areas “not subject to sanctions”, especially in the energy sector.
Sijarto also spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Maxim Rizhenkov, with whom he made a joint statement to the media.
„We believe the world goes to waste when some people want to tell others who they can talk to, who they can date, and who they can't. We have a sovereign right to negotiate with whoever we want,” cut Szijjarto in front of the press.
The foreign minister emphasized that it is in the “national interest” of Hungary to expand cooperation with Belarus – a statement that was met with praise by his Belarusian counterpart: “We thought of giving you an office here, since you often travel to Minsk,” noted Rizhenkov.