The foreign minister warned of the danger of the escalation of the war in Ukraine.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary’s peace mission must be further strengthened, warning of the danger of the escalation of the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Ministerial Council meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Minister Szijjártó was quoted by his ministry as saying that while, in the wake of the US presidential election, an end to the conflict in Ukraine seemed closer than ever, the danger of escalation was the greatest yet.
“Instead of calling for a reduction in the military conscription age, we should be working on creating a ceasefire and starting peace negotiations,” Minister Szijjártó said.
“We, in the neighbourhood of the conflict, very much hope that nothing irreversible will happen before January 20,” he said, referring to the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
“Therefore, we continue to contribute to keeping communications and diplomatic channels open, and in this regard, we consider the OSCE an extremely important platform, the last platform in the region that provides an opportunity for civilised East-West dialogue,” he said.
Finally, the minister pointed to recent events demonstrating that religious discrimination had strengthened in the world.
“Modern-day anti-Semitism is present in Western Europe. Christians are persecuted in Syria, the Middle East and several African countries. Just as anti-Islamism is emerging in many parts of the world,” he said.
He noted the Basel Declaration on Enhancing Efforts to Combat Anti-Semitism, adopted ten years ago, saying that the goal set then was to adopt a similar document to protect other religions, which has not happened since.
“Therefore, I now ask that we adopt a joint declaration on combatting discrimination against Christian and Muslim communities and other religions,” Minister Szijjártó added.
