“One of the conclusions that may be drawn from the coronavirus pandemic is that never again can Europe be so vulnerable to external stakeholders with relation to strategic issues”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in a video posted on his Facebook page on Monday to report on an online meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Mr. Szijjártó said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also involved in Monday’s meeting. He said the conclusion drawn concerning the European Union most definitely justifies that the EU and the United States establish close cooperation with relation to the development of strategic capacities. “Strategic capacities to be established in preparation for extraordinary situations must not be placed on the agenda as purely financial issues”, he added. “In peacetime, there is obviously no need for the protective equipment required in extraordinary situations, and accordingly establishing the capacity to produce and store such equipment may seem financially superfluous”, the Minister said. “However, this is not a financial issue, but a strategic issue”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted, expressing his hope that close European and American cooperation will come about with relation to this issue.

“This requires the EU to practice pragmatic foreign policy in the direction of the United States”, he said. “It would be important for EU institutions in Brussels to ‘not feel that it is their duty to continuously comment on U.S. domestic policy processes’, and to refrain from wanting to continuously criticise the Americans’ foreign policy measures. It would also be important for the EU to stay our of the U.S. Presidential election campaign” Mr. Szijjártó added.

The Minister said that the Middle Eastern Peace Process was one of the important topics of discussion at the meeting of EU foreign ministers. “There is no unified standpoint with relation to this issue within the European Union. Hungary regards Israel as its strategic ally and friend, and is developing its Israel policy accordingly”, Mr. Szijjártó said, citing as an example the fact that Hungary is against the regularly manifested “one-sided, unbalanced and often unfair” approach towards Israel on the part of international organisations. He explained that for this reason Hungary often vetoes resolutions and statements that put forward unfounded and unfair criticism of Israel in international organisations.

“The success of the Middle Eastern Peace Process is very important in view of the fact that the stability and security situation of the Middle East has a significant influence on Europe’s security situation”, Mr. Szijjártó stated. “For instance, because of migration and the risk of terrorism that is one of its causes”, he pointed out. “For precisely this reason, it is in Hungary’s interests for there to be peace and stability in the Middle East, and this requires partnership and a peace plan with the Israeli government”, the Minister emphasised. “The peace plan put forward a few months ago by Senior Advisor to the U.S. President Jared Kushner provides a good and encouraging foundation for true negotiations on the peace process to finally commence between Middle Eastern stakeholders”, Mr. Szijjártó stated.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)