Latest news with #Szijjártó
Budapest Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Budapest Times
Abraham Accords could guarantee long-term peace in Middle East, minister says
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the Abraham Accords signed during US President Donald Trump's first term should be expanded in order to guarantee long-term peace in the Middle East. 'The name of peace in the Middle East, as in Ukraine, is that of Donald Trump,' Minister Szijjártó said in New York on Wednesday. The Abraham Accords signed during Trump's first term led to Israel normalising its relations with several Arab countries after several decades of unsuccessful peace efforts, Minister Szijjártó said ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, according to a ministry statement. 'I believe the path to long-term peaceful life in the Middle East is through the renewal and expansion of the Abraham Accords,' the minister said. 'This is also very important for us, because the security of the Middle East has a significant impact on the security of Central Europe,' Minister Szijjártó said. 'If there's no security in the Middle East, then the migration waves heading towards Europe will always intensify. Right now, we're seeing these migration waves making their way through the land route, so they're a direct threat to Hungary.' Minister Szijjártó said another reason why peace in the Middle East was important for Hungary was that, as a Christian country, Hungary felt responsible for persecuted Christian communities there. Hungary's government has so far spent around 30 billion forints (EUR 75.1m) supporting Christian communities in the Middle East, which has included contributions to the Catholic Church's humanitarian and social programmes in the Gaza Strip, the minister said. He also expressed Hungary's support for a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Middle East, saying they would give those living in the region a chance at a more peaceful life and open the door for the release of the last Hungarian hostage 'One Hungarian hostage is still being held by Hamas, which is why we demand the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages,' Minister Szijjártó said. Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said that in addition to the UN forums, he will also hold economic talks as well as meetings with Saudi Arabia's economy minister and Serbia's minister in charge of gender equality. He said that because the European Union had so far been unable to sign a free trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council, it should hold talks with one Gulf country at a time in order to reach agreements with them as soon as possible.
Budapest Times
a day ago
- Business
- Budapest Times
FM: EU must work with countries that strengthen bloc's competitiveness
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the European Union must work together with countries such as Andorra that do not threaten but strengthen the bloc's competitiveness. Minister Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Andorra counterpart Imma Tor Faus that Hungary and Andorra 'represent similar positions' regarding the problems that currently burden the world. 'Both have a vested interest in international politics returning to the basis of mutual trust since, failing that, there will be negative consequences for countries of a modest size,' a ministry statement quoted him as saying. 'When I visited Andorra last year, my goal was to prepare for the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union. Unfortunately, I must say that the symptoms of an ailing Europe at the time, such as the dangerous security situation, extreme energy security challenges and the dramatic decrease in competitiveness, are currently even worse,' he added. Minister Szijjártó said the EU was steadily weakening as a result of a series of mistakes by Brussels. The minister said both Hungary and Andorra had an interest in an EU that aided the performance of national economies instead of putting countries under 'political pressure'. 'Instead of suppressing national characteristics, it should strengthen them,' he added. The EU could grow stronger by strengthening ties with countries that improve cooperation with member states, he said, adding that Andorra was an 'excellent example' of this and the reason why Hungary urged the EU to finally sign the accession agreement, given that the talks are already completed. 'Clearly, Andorra's economic performance would contribute to the EU's economic performance,' he said.
Budapest Times
a day ago
- Business
- Budapest Times
Foreign Minister says REPowerEU is ‘the Zelensky plan'
Minister Szijjártó said that banning Russian energy sources would multiply utility costs. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary strongly opposes the REPowerEU plan as it would ruin Hungarian energy security and competitiveness and branded REPowerEU as 'the Zelensky plan'. Attending a working breakfast of European Union member state ambassadors in Budapest, Minister Szijjártó also said that banning Russian energy sources would multiply utility costs. The minister told them the bloc faced huge challenges 'in a rapidly changing world,' such as illegal migration and the decline in European competitiveness, which had a severe impact on Hungary's export-oriented economy. Excluding the years of the pandemic, government incentives helped investments break records every year since 2014, and the European Commission needlessly curbed member states, he said, adding that Brussels should leave such investments to sovereign decision-making regarding the national finances. Since the EU has not inked a single investment protection agreement with third countries for a long time, the right to bilateral agreements should be returned to member states, he added. As far as energy deals are concerned, he said the issue was physical and did not impinge on other states. The EC's proposal would result in energy sources being shut down instead of being diversified, he added. 'Frankly, I don't care what the Russians think about our position. And that's the case generally. But nor do I care what Burkina Faso thinks or Australia for that matter.' 'We oppose REPowerEU because it goes against Hungary's interests,' he added. At an event organised by the holder of the rotating presidency, Denmark, Minister Szijjártó noted that Russian energy imports to Europe have shrunk by 85-90 percent. He said it was 'no longer true' that Moscow could use energy to blackmail the bloc and the EU had achieved its objectives in this regard, adding that the security of no single country should be imperilled by banning energy imports. He underlined that the elimination of Russian oil and natural gas sources would increase utility costs in Hungary several times over. 'We Hungarians can't be accused of not trying to diversify our resources,' he said, adding that as a landlocked country, Hungary was in a far tougher spot than others. Six of the country's networks have been interconnected with seven of its neighbours, he said, though lagging infrastructure investments by others mean that 'capacities are still insufficient'. Minister Szijjártó said criticism of Hungary might be valid had the country not done everything it could to boost diversification, but in fact it had spent billions and tens of billions of euros on interconnection. 'We ask for greater understanding,' he said. Addressing the issue of Ukraine's bid to become an EU member, he noted the Hungarian government's strong opposition, for which it has been subjected to 'serious attacks'. Many other member states blocked integration of the Western Balkans for many years, 'yet they aren't branded as puppets of the Russians…' he added.
Budapest Times
a day ago
- Business
- Budapest Times
Szijjártó: Don't politicize prosperity, let the economy speak Chinese
Hungary aims to remain the number one European destination for Chinese investments, as these investments significantly contribute to the performance and transformation of the economy — Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest. The minister attended a working breakfast with executives of Chinese companies, where he emphasized that Hungary is proud to have become the top European destination for investments from the East Asian country. The government's goal is to maintain this position, as it greatly supports economic growth and structural transformation. He explained that Hungary respects the geopolitical and global economic realities and firmly opposes the politicized and ideologically driven approaches taken by some EU leaders. 'We believe that making economic cooperation between China and Europe impossible, or even just restricting it, would cause serious economic difficulties for the entire European economy,' he warned. 'We side with the players of the economy. If something works well economically, politicians should not ruin it. Hungary is the best example of how cooperation between Western and Chinese economies can bring significant benefits for both sides,' he added. Szijjártó argued that Hungary is proof that Europe can reap substantial economic benefits from cooperating with Chinese companies. 'Hungary is proof that Europe can effectively respond to the great technological revolution taking place in the world by working closely with China. Hungary is also proof that Europe can successfully navigate the global transformation of the automotive industry if it does not restrict collaboration between European and Chinese companies,' he listed. 'We firmly reject any attempt to divide the world into blocs again. We stand firmly for a world that is based on connections, connectivity, and global cooperation founded on mutual respect,' he continued. In line with this, the minister described it as an important economic policy objective for Hungary to remain the number one destination in Europe for Chinese investments. 'Last year, 34% of all Chinese investments into Europe came to Hungary; the year before that, it was 44%. In 2020, 2023, and 2024, Chinese companies brought the most investments to our country,' he reported. 'According to our assessment, these Chinese investments have all brought highly advanced technology and a large number of reliable jobs to Hungary. Without these investments, both the Hungarian economy and Hungary as a country would be poorer,' he concluded.
Euractiv
4 days ago
- Business
- Euractiv
Budapest claims deal with Belgrade, Moscow on new pipeline for Russian oil
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has announced an agreement with 'Serbian and Russian colleagues' to build a new oil pipeline between Serbia and Hungary, aimed at consolidating imports of Russian crude oil – just as the EU moves to finally freeze the Kremlin out of its energy market. In a typically provocative social media post on Monday, Szijjártó blamed the EU's ongoing efforts to prohibit Russian fossil fuel imports for driving up energy prices to 'several times' those in other parts of the world. 'And this is no wonder, given Brussels is forcibly dismantling energy ties, banning Russian energy sources and blocking supply routes,' Szijjártó wrote on social media. The move comes as the EU actively seeks to close off the remaining imports of Russian gas – flows that, although substantially reduced since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, still provide considerable revenue for the Kremlin's unprovoked war against its smaller neighbor. Legislators are currently negotiating a proposal to ban imports of Russian gas completely by 2027. The European Parliament's lead negotiator is also pushing to extend the prohibition to pipeline oil, while also bringing forward the deadline. The announcement from Budapest came after a video conference between Szijjártó, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin, and Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović, the state-controlled news agency MTI reported. The proposed pipeline could be operational as early as 2027, MTI reported, although few details were provided about the nature of the agreement with Moscow and Belgrade. In a video clip included in the report, Szijjártó – whose government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has long made capping domestic energy bills a key element in election campaigning – reiterated his criticism of EU energy policy. 'We will not allow this,' Szijjártó said. 'We will build pipelines and open up new sources of supply, and so maintain Europe's lowest energy bills for the Hungarian people.' According to recent statistics, Hungarian households have the lowest gas bills in the EU at €3.20 per 100 kWh compared to €16.71 in the Netherlands and €18.93 in Sweden. Hungary and neighbouring Slovakia have repeatedly obstructed EU attempts to impose economic sanctions on Russian oil and gas, where unanimity among all 27 EU member states is required. However, the REPowerEU package currently under negotiation between governments and the European Parliament would require only a qualified majority to pass into law. (aw)
