Hungary’s Szijjarto hopes for more ‘pro-peace forces’ in the EU Parliament

5 months ago 18

The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz have expressed a common hope for increased representation of “pro-peace forces” in the European Parliament, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.

Szijjarto spoke at a joint press conference with UDMR leader Hunor Kelemen in Târgu Mureș, north-central Romania on Monday evening, reports Agerpres.

According to Hungaria’s foreign minister, the voice of peace in Brussels and Strasbourg would be amplified with more parliamentarians from UDMR and Fidesz.

With a sizeable Hungarian community living in that part of Romania, Szijjarto encouraged them to actively participate in local elections and support UDMR’s lists and candidates.

He also highlighted the importance of a close collaboration between the Hungarian government and the Hungarian community in Romania to facilitate the ”creation of success stories”.

Prior to the press conference, at an event organised in Târgu Mureș, Szijjarto criticised Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, labelling him a pro-war politician, in contrast to the Hungarians, who ”stand firmly on the side of peace.”

Hungary does not support any actions that could heighten the risk of war escalation, aiming ”to achieve peace as soon as possible”, Szijjarto added.

Calling on Lithuanians to vote for peace, Szijjarto envisioned a European Parliament dominated by politicians advocating for peace.

In this context, he and UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor jointly declared their opposition to Ursula von der Leyen’s possible re-election as head of the European Commission.

Szijjarto criticised von der Leyen’s performance, saying that the European Commission’s decisions over the past five years have negatively impacted European citizens.

“In the last five years, Europe … went from one crisis to another. The European crisis has only been intensified by the European Commission and has not been resolved. The European Commission is unequivocally responsible for making the lives of European citizens worse,” the foreign minister and Fidesz member also said.

For his part, Kelemen added that UDMR did not support von der Leyen within the EPP when the candidate for the Commission presidency was nominated because of unfulfilled promises regarding the Minority SafePack, a European Citizens’ Initiative on minority rights in the EU.

(Catalina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)