“The people sitting in the European Parliament don’t care about Hungarian reality, and it is clear that a group of NGOs is working to paint a negative picture of Hungary”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Hungarian M1 television’s Thursday morning current affairs program.

With relation to the fact that another European Parliament committee has criticised Hungary, he said: A show trial is underway against Hungary in the European Parliament, and the Sargentini Report is a “collection of qualified lies”.

“These committees are raking up issues that Hungary and the European Union has long closed”, he added.

“It is evident that a group of NGOs is continuously painting a negative picture of Hungary, and the common denominator with relation to these NGOs is that in some form or another, directly or indirectly, they are all part of George Soros’s network”, the Minister said.

Mr. Szijjártó also mentioned the amendment to the Nationality Act, which the Ukrainian President has now withdrawn, explaining this must be just the first step if Ukraine is serious about its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

Speaking on Kossuth Radio’s “180 Minutes” program, the Minister also spoke about the fact that the results of the past four years clearly indicate that placing the administration of foreign affairs and foreign trade under one roof was a particularly good decision. As he explained, Hungarian exports have increased every year, exceeding 100 billion euros last year, and the number of foreign investments in Hungary has also increased by 60 percent over the course of the past four years.

Mr. Szijjártó also said that the Ministry’s’ portfolio will be supplemented by several new elements, including supervising civil intelligence, energy-related negotiations, cross-border infrastructure development projects and space research.

With relation to the Western Balkans Conference, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said Hungary has called for all negotiation chapters to be opened with both Montenegro and Serbia before the end of this year.

(MTI)