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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Contrary to the majority of European Union countries, which, in line with the United States, have severed relations with Moscow since February 2022, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated that preserving ties with Russia is a successful outcome of the country’s foreign policy. His comments came only days after the meeting between the leading Republican nominee, Donald Trump, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Szijjártó considers the partnership with Russia crucial to guaranteeing Hungary’s energy supply. In other European countries, as retaliation for the conflict in Ukraine, there was a sharp drop in the purchase of cheap Russian gas, which led to an increase in inflation across the continent and more expensive energy prices.
“Hungarian foreign policy last year met expectations, as we managed to stay aloof from war, we remained on the side of peace despite enormous international pressure, and we managed to maintain relations with Russia, which are undoubtedly necessary for the supply of energy for Hungarian industry and people,” said Szijjártó.
The minister further stated that although he often faces criticism for communicating with Russian officials, he continues to maintain ties with Moscow “because he is the Minister of Foreign Affairs” and does not consider it a great feat in diplomacy just to communicate with those with whom Budapest completely or almost totally agrees.
Szijjártó stated that EU and NATO allies tried to convince Hungary not to meet with representatives from Russia and Belarus during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, Budapest believes that this behaviour leads to an impasse and does not contribute to the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts.
In June last year, Szijjártó further reported that he maintains contacts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to preserve the chance of a peaceful solution in Ukraine. The Hungarian minister also repeatedly advised EU and NATO countries not to close communication channels with Russia, as peace can only be achieved through dialogue.
Szijjártó’s comments come only days after former US President Donald Trump met with Orbán at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida to discuss a wide range of issues of common interest for Hungary and the US, including ending the reckless spending on Ukraine’s war with Russia.
“If the Americans do not give money and weapons, and also the Europeans, then this war will be over. And if the Americans do not give money the Europeans are unable to finance this war on their own, and then the war will end. Trump is not president now, but his party interferes when the Democrats want to send money to the war. Trump said that if he returns, he will not do this, [he will] not [allocate] a penny. And then this war will end,” Orbán said in an interview with Hungarian broadcaster M1. “It is obvious that Ukraine on its own cannot stand on its feet.”
Trump and Orbán are longtime allies who share conservative political views and have publicly expressed mutual respect and support. Orbán has supported Trump in the US presidential race and the legal challenges he is facing. He is also the former president’s biggest supporter in bringing normalcy back to Europe by ending support for the Kiev regime.
Trump described Orbán on March 12 as a “tough man,” saying the Hungarian prime minister believed Moscow would not have launched its special military operation against Ukraine if he had been president in 2022.
“All of those dead people in blown-up cities because Ukraine is now just like a demolition site, what they’ve done to Ukraine – none of that would have happened,” he told CNBC.
Trump has urged for the Biden administration to loan money to Ukraine and not just “hand it over” as military assistance.
“Loan them the money. If they can make it, they pay us back. If they can’t make it, they don’t have to pay us back,” he said at a recent rally in South Carolina.
Biden, rather than trying to appease the angsts of an EU and NATO member, instead criticised Trump after falsely accusing Orbán of having “rigged his political system to keep himself in power.”
“He was with Viktor Orbán, who talked about democracy being the problem, and telling how much he understood and agreed with him. Come on. I mean, this is not who we are,” Biden said at a campaign event on March 11 in New Hampshire.
All recent polls have placed Trump ahead of Biden, and Orbán recognises the likelihood of the former president returning to the White House. Under these conditions, it is little surprise that Szijjártó has been dispatched to advance and deepen ties with Moscow. Although a quick normalisation with Moscow is unlikely under Trump, if he is elected, countries like Hungary will face far less pressure just because they maintain friendly ties with Russia.
and he will be the president. this madness, and this useless killings should finally end. is trump perfect? no, but compared to joe “pedo peter” biden he is a saint.
the are both perfectly the same imbeciles.
dont be shocked,but i agree
you only agree because you’re a nazi and would have preferred romel to run the third reich over the clown hitler.
hungary stays the course, patience and rational thought and actions win the day.
hungary will stop rotschild’s nwo plans ? really ? rofl.
one problem with ur stupidity hoebag. who the fk said anything about nwo?
try harder next time idiot clown…
aww nafosexuals are big sad now 😢
the sad thing is: a, us president is not in charge of anything b, trump is so weak that can be manipulated by kushners family as his daughter married a jew c, even in case trump is not manipulated, they can impeached and jailed anytime (or assassinated) my conclusion: this clown is not worth listening as any american promise is a lie from the beginning.
trump is a toddler with an attention spam of a fruit fly.
gestapo pig injects itself into any conversation it can…
lick gay ass much?
whatever floats ur boat flathead.
keep on trying western inbred…
be careful. gneaus may be discussing you as an enemy of the state at one of his secret gettogethers in some dank beer cellar in bavaria, talking about how to overthrow the government and merge a reborn third reich with fascist ukraine.
yeah he will stop the funding of ukraine just like he locked the bitch up, drained the swamp and made mexico pay for the wall last time around. he will order it probably but if he wins they will probably have the same kind of shadow presidency office like the first time with obama as shadowpresident with own budget and the europeans listening to him instead of trump. and the military will just refuse like when he ordered the troops to leave syria and they send more into it.
exactly. you have a zionist clown pedophile who died 4 years ago, played by his twin brother or the robot in a rubber mask vs. a masonic zionist body double of a guy who died in a helicopter crash in 1986. both are lying duplicitous entities… vote dr. shiva!
what a grand vision for america. a closet zionist blowhard on one hand and a zionist, warmongering airhead on the other. one headed at full gallop into wwiii and the other maybe thinking wwiii isn’t profitable for anybody. guess i made my choice.
phew, good thing. he’s never lied about anything!/s
“they don’t have to pay us back,” trump said at a recent rally in south carolina.” americans should find no solace in trumps’s ridiculous comment: ukraine will not repay a dime, which means billions in taxpayers’ money down the rathole and added to the existing $35 trillion debt.
it’s a ridiculous joke that the money is going to be paid off. half of america is going to be dead probably, and the currency will serve as nasty toilet paper that people would rather use leaves than anyway. putting illegals in hotels with stipends etc is the last hurrah and opportunity to buy suppressed assets like gold and food and other prepping items. if people still believe trump with all of his swamp-gutter associates and pals, and people like me warning, they can’t be helped.
i predict that ‘slava ukraini’ will soon be replaced by ‘i’ll gladly pay you tomorrow for a hamburger today’
i totally agree with this. when trump is chosen as president of us, ukraine will be forced to accept a peace treaty, or cease fire giving in to most russian demands. i do not know how biden could possibly win. his victory has a probability of snow flake in hell.
i predict he’ll get 40% of the vote and 80% of that will be an ‘anyone but trump’ vote.
biden like his mind, is toast.
just more trump empty words. he knows darn well that ukraine will have given up the ghost by the time he gets into office.
then trump will take the credit, saying – just my being in the race forced the ukrainians into a peace deal.
and who cares? anything works for me, as long as it gets done.
trump invalidated himself with warp speed genocide… but they’re both fakes, biden and trump, the real trump died in 1986 i believe.