“Hungary is committed to supporting the termination of the unacceptable and outrageous practice of impunity that characterises sexual offences committed against girls and women during the course of military conflicts worldwide”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Friday in Oslo at a conference on the issue.

The politician said Hungary is giving 12 million forints to the International Red Cross and the UN women’s rights organisation in the interests of enabling them to help women and girls who have been the victim of sexual violence in conflict zones, and who the international organisations must pay special attention to supporting after the conclusion of such conflicts.

“During the course of international conflicts, violence against defenceless people, and primarily girls and women, is becoming increasingly prevalent, and in essence remains unpunished. All conflicts come to an end in such a way that the guilty are only called to account in extremely rare cases, which encourages the perpetrators of such crimes to repeat their actions”, Mr. Szijjártó explained.

“In view of the fact that, unfortunately, Hungary also has experience of this from the last century, we want to make it clear that all crimes against humanity committed during the course of international armed conflicts must under all circumstances bear consequences”, the Minister noted. “In the interests of this, the Hungarian Government is calling for the establishment of a stable and strong international legal mechanism that will put an end to this culture of impunity. In the interests of this, Hungary is primarily working in close cooperation with Norway”, he said.

According to news reports, the Norwegian Government will be supporting the fight against sexual violence committed during the course of humanitarian crises with over 100 million euros over the next two years. On the sidelines of the Oslo conference, Mr. Szijjártó held bilateral talks with Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide, and his Sri Lankan counterpart, Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana.

(MTI)