U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
The U.S. Secretary of State has arrived in Budapest on Sunday. Marco Rubio was welcomed by Levente Magyar, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, at Liszt Ferenc International Airport.
Today, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to sign an agreement on nuclear energy cooperation between the United States and Hungary and to discuss bilateral relations and the possibility of establishing peace in Ukraine.
Afterwards, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will receive the U.S Secretary of State. The topics will be peace efforts, peace negotiations, and Hungarian-American relations.
Fact
The U.S. Secretary of State’s visit is special because Hungary is set to play an important role in the Peace Council. Viktor Orbán has a friendly relationship with Donald Trump, the President of the United States, who assured the Hungarian Prime Minister on social media that he supports him in the parliamentary elections due in two months’ time, and previously acknowledged the Hungarian Prime Minister’s work in curbing illegal immigration.
Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szijjártó recently wrote on his Facebook page: “Twice in Washington so far, now for the first time in Budapest: a new golden age in Hungarian-American relations. With American support, we are maintaining utility price cuts and supporting American peace efforts with every means at our disposal. We welcome U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Budapest!”
Ahead of the meeting FM Péter Szijjártó said that the meeting will focus on two important topics.
One is the possibility of establishing peace, in connection with which he noted that Europeans are constantly trying to undermine the U.S. President’s efforts to achieve peace. Hungary, on the other hand, is working for peace and to keep our country out of the war, he added.
The other main topic of the talks will be Hungarian-American relations, which Péter Szijjártó said have entered a “golden age” since Donald Trump became president. He explained that last year saw a record level of American investment in Hungary, while previous politically motivated sanctions against us were lifted.
Viktor Orbán also succeeded in Washington last year in securing an exemption for Hungary from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, and the United States lifted sanctions on the Paks investment, the politician recalled.
File photo of FM Péter Szijjártó and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington. Photo: MTI/KKM
Despite fake news reports, the Friendship oil pipeline was not damaged in the recent attack, he stated. Damage to the surrounding infrastructure would not prevent the pipeline from operating, as it is technically ready to be restarted. Therefore, the only reason for the obstruction of its operation is political, Péter Szijjártó emphasized, pointing out that it is in the interest of the Ukrainian president, who pursues an anti-Hungarian policy, for the Tisza Party (main opposition party) to win the April 12 elections, because then “Ukraine will get the green light.”
Péter Szijjártó also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy completely misunderstands the situation: he thinks that Europe owes him because they are fighting the Russians, but this is not the case, because Russia is not at war with the EU, and Ukraine is not defending Europe, but itself.
He also pointed out that among the EU’s measures is that Hungary and Slovakia are exempt from sanctions on Russian crude oil pipeline transport, and if pipeline transport becomes impossible, these two countries can also import Russian crude oil by sea. Therefore, the goal now is to transport crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Adria pipeline, he said. MOL has taken the necessary steps to achieve this, thus it is now Croatia’s turn to make it happen, he added, noting that Croatians are obliged to comply with this request under EU rules.
According to Péter Szijjártó, the “Zelenskyy plan” is one of the results of the work of the Brussels-Kyiv coalition, which is about how to interfere in the Hungarian parliamentary elections and take away the member states’ ability to influence the most important EU decisions, thus reducing smaller member states to a level where they can only say “yes” to the EU proposals of larger member states.
However, Hungary will not allow this,”
he said.
It is no coincidence that EU rules stipulate that decisions on the most important issues must be taken by unanimous vote. Member states can veto issues that are sharply contrary to their national interests.
Hungary is doing this for the twentieth time now, when Brussels wants to sanction Russian energy companies that supply us with cheap crude oil and natural gas,”
he explained.
Péter Szijjártó said that they will not assist in the removal of this right, and as long as Hungary has a sovereign national government, it will insist on its veto right therefore, ensuring that the most important EU decisions cannot be made against the will of the Hungarian people.
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Via MTI; Featured photo: Facebook/Magyar Levente
The post U.S. Secretary of State Visits Budapest for Nuclear Energy Pact appeared first on Hungary Today.
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