“Resolving conflicts requires sincerity and mutual respect to return to international dialogue”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Tuesday in New York, where he took part in an event organised by the UN Inter-Agency Working Group on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration.

With relation to resolving the increasing number of conflicts in the radically changed world, he said: “there is too much political correctness and hypocrisy in the air”. The Minister stressed that major global challenges must be discussed sincerely without pushing each other into a corner, showering abuse on each other and stigmatizing each other, while preventing the spreading of fake news.

Mr. Szijjártó emphasised that stigmatization and the spreading of fake news can particularly easily lead to conflicts and give rise to tensions, which is harmful and can lead to dangerous situations. As he explained, it is an important prerequisite of reconciliation processes that the universal rights of countries and nations to their identity, and to their historical, cultural and religious traditions, are acknowledged. “If these are called into question, however, the reconciliation process can become impossible”, he warned. “Reconciliation processes are, however, facilitated if people’s right to live in safe and secure conditions in their own homeland is acknowledged as a fundamental human right worldwide. For this reason, international efforts must be concentrated on helping people to return home through creating the required conditions for this”, he pointed out. “Hungary is placing particular emphasis on aiding persecuted Christian communities so they are not forced to leave their homes and can live in peaceful conditions in their home country”, he declared.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that Hungary is accepting students from all over the world, who are fully funded by the Hungarian government. As he explained, the goal of this is to enable foreign students with differing cultural and religious backgrounds to meet and develop mutual respect for each other. “In this semester, 7440 foreign students are studying in Hungary, and this number will be increasing to 9500 next year”, he added.

(MTI)