In the wake of the US presidential election, an end to the conflict in Ukraine seems closer than ever, even as the danger of escalation is the greatest yet as “the outgoing US administration is trying to make brokering peace after 20 January impossible”, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Washington, D.C., late on Wednesday.
According to a ministry statement, Péter Szijjártó met House Representative Mike Waltz, a Republican for Florida tapped to serve as national security advisor in the incoming administration headed by Donald Trump, and welcomed that the post would go to a member of the Congressional Hungarian-American Caucus.
Szijjártó said the “friendly talks” touched on geopolitical issues including the war in Ukraine. “It is no coincidence that the issue of the war in Ukraine, whether to end it or continue it, was one of the most important questions in the US presidential campaign, and while Donald Trump said clearly he wanted to end the war, Kamala Harris fought for continuing it.”
He said Hungary was “rooting for Donald Trump’s aim to conclude the war quickly to become reality”, and said that keeping channels of communication open was extremely important.
Regarding US-Hungarian relations, Szijjártó said “the fact that US Republicans and we Hungarian patriots have similar, and occasionally perfectly aligned, views on the most important issues of world politics” would be certain to give a stable foundation to a renewed relationship.
He pointed to the fight against illegal migration and the protection of borders and sovereignty as examples. “We want to base our policies on common sense, family is a priority for both administrations, and we both speak the language of peace.”
The most important “takeaway” of the talks with Waltz was that “we speak the language of peace and that the risk of escalation is as clear for the US as it is for us, in the neighbourhood of the war,” Szijjártó said.
At the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this week, the incumbent US Secretary of State had a “very different approach”, Szijjártó said. He lamented that 8 member states have yet to boost their defence spending to 2 percent of GDP. NATO also requires that 20 percent of that be ploughed into modernisation and new purchases; in Hungary, that ratio is at 48 percent. “That is one way we contribute to NATO’s strength,” he said.
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Tell us Szijjarto why you say absolutely nothing about the Russian aggressor in your quest for peace. Russians including young teenagers are in prison right now for protesting their government’s war against Ukraine. Russians are in prison merely for calling the invasion of Ukraine a “war” rather than a “Special Military Operation” which is the term that your government publicly used in sync with your Moscow bosses in 2022 when Putin launched his war.
When children are too young to face prosecution under Russian law, it’s not unknown for a parent to bear the brunt. Such was the case for entrepreneur and single father Alexey Moskalyov, who was sentenced to nearly two years in prison for “discrediting the Russian army” on social media.
The charges against him came shortly after his then-12-year-old daughter, Masha, drew an anti-war picture in April 2022, two months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The drawing featured a Russian flag with the words “No to war,” a Ukrainian flag with the inscription “Glory to Ukraine,” and a woman shielding her child from missiles fired from Russia. The picture drew the attention of school authorities; Moskalyov was initially fined and then incarcerated for his own online posts critical of the war, while Masha was temporarily put in an orphanage.
Where are all the Orban haters tosday?
@Tm I guess you mean me, among others? I am not an Orbán hater – I just like data and facts, read up on things and am critical (call it “constructive criticism” – as he did, speaking to Mrs. Von Der Leyen).
Regarding Mr. Szijjártó – bit of a different matter, since on occasion I have had to work with him and have developed a bias.
Let´s see what happens with the new administration in the US of A. American Exceptionalism has passed – as Mr. Trump pointed out, it is a country like any other. Now, the waiting game of what “America First”, tariffs and the will mean for their country and the rest of the world.
Re our Politicians´ hopes and dreams. Be careful what you wish for … Hungary is land locked, part of the EU – which also happens to be the biggest trading partner by a landslide, friendly to the Chinese leadership, its multinational corporations and dependent on Russia (as our Politicians are quite fond of pointing out).