“Hungary’s interests are always at the focal point of Hungary foreign policy”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s State Secretary for Information and the International Representation of Hungary Tamás Menczer declared on Thursday during a conference at the Hungarian University of Public Service to mark the Day of Hungarian Diplomacy.

“We regard cross-border Hungarians as people who link the two countries, not divide them”, Mr. Menczer said. “We assume and trust that if there are joint successes with our neighbours that transcend our borders and increase trust, then in time we will also be able to open dialogue on more sensitive issues”, he explained. “Cross-border Hungarians are in a much better situation now than they were five years ago, but there are still many tasks ahead of us”, he stated.

“Serbia is treating the cross-border Hungarian community in an exemplary manner, and we are nurturing our best ever relations with Slovakia and have also succeeded in making progress with relation to certain minority issues, while concerning Hungarian-Ukrainian relations it would be extremely important for there to be a high-level meeting”, he explained. “The Hungarian government will not let go of the hand of Transcarpathian Hungarians and will not sacrifice the community on the altar of geopolitical positioning”, the State Secretary emphasised.

“Strengthening the economy is also important to enable cross-border Hungarians to remain in the land of their birth, and thanks to the programme it launched in 2016 it has been able to provide a total of 121.9 billion forints (EUR 365.7 million) in funding with relation to 44,882 tender applications. 228 billion forints (EUR 684 million) in investment has been realised thanks to this funding. There are currently 13,415 tender applications under assessment at a value of 35.8 billion forints (EUR 107.4 million)”, the State Secretary said, listing the data.

“Cross-border Hungarians must be asked what they feel is good for them. We have asked them, and we never make any important national policy decisions without first consulting with cross-border Hungarian communities”, Mr. Menczer said.

The State Secretary also spoke about the fact that “we had also not expected there to be a Hungarian party that campaigns against the Hungarian candidate in an election campaign going on in a neighbouring country”. “The leaders of cross-border Hungarian parties held talks in Budapest last week, and told us that they feel betrayed with respect to the anti-Hungarian drives being by Hungary’s Momentum party. Momentum and their allies want to teach cross-border Hungarians to vote for non-Hungarian candidates. However, historical experience does not indicate that candidates who are not of Hungarian nationally represent Hungarian interests better than a Hungarian candidate”, Mr. Menczer said.

“What Momentum and every party that supports them is doing is unacceptable and disgusting, and it makes me sick just to think about it”, he declared. “We are not just talking about cross-border Hungarian parties; they are also betraying the people who are behind those parties”, the State Secretary emphasised. “When Momentum writes about the fact that NATO troops should force a certain kind of order that it would like in Hungary, it is following the worst possible communist traditions. Momentum is an ugly purple balloon in which there is no content; they represent only the worst, communist, free democrat and ‘Gyurcsányist’ traditions”, the State Secretary said.

Mr. Menczer also spoke about the fact that it is Hungary’s interests to maintain good relations with Germany, Italy and Turkey. “Hungary has an interest in source and route diversification with relation to the issue of natural gas imports. Currently, for reasons beyond our control, we essentially only have access to Russian gas”, the State Secretary added.

On the subject of migration, the State Secretary highlighted that there are currently over 100 thousand illegal immigrants on the Western Balkan migration route. “The Hungarian government has provided over 40 million dollars in funding to Middle Eastern Christian communities, with which it has helped some 50 thousand people to remain in place”, he said. “However, the Hungarian opposition is clearly pro-immigration, and there is one party that is currently undecided between open anti-Semitism and ‘Gyurcsányism’, and it is difficult to choose the better of these two”, Mr. Menczer said.

(MTI)