House Speaker: Interests of the ethnic Hungarian community are a priority in Romania
During an interview with Mandiner, Kövér said the decision on who the right presidential candidate for ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania was should be decided by them and specifically their political representatives, namely the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party.
'We fully respect and support this decision; this is always how it has been, so this is nothing new,' the speaker said.
Kövér said Hungary and its government did not want to weigh in on the election of any country and did not support any presidential candidates.
This vote, he said, was the internal affair of Romania's electorate. He noted that there was already a precedent for European Union institutions questioning the internal democratic decision of a member state, citing as an example the attempt in the early 2000s to isolate Austria's OVP-FPO coalition led by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel.
'In politics, it's patience, perseverance and wisdom that get us the result we all hope for,' Kövér said.
'We, as a non-EU country, stood up for people's right to make their own decisions even back then,' he said. 'Because we don't believe that the EU was created to interfere in the internal affairs of any country, especially not as grossly as it has been doing more recently, or to try to discipline voters either verbally or through different kinds of sanctions.'
Kövér said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's remarks had been about Hungary's willingness to cooperate with a country's governing parties regarding bilateral ties, the given country's minority communities and regarding EU affairs.
He said the most important consideration was respecting the rights, dignity and interests of the country's ethnic Hungarian communities.
Meanwhile, Kövér said it was 'unprecedented' how far the AUR party's leader had gone with his earlier 'anti-Hungarian gestures and remarks' as well as certain actions he had organised, adding that the government fully understood and shared the concerns that had arisen from this.
'At the same time, we enter into potential cooperation with every potential partner with the hope that if these problems can't be put aside or eliminated, we can at least initiate processes through which these problems are made less significant,' Kövér said.
He cited the positive example of how Slovakia, under its Prime Minister Robert Fico was the closest to Hungary in the EU on almost all issues today, despite the 'serious incidents' with Slovakia's Hungarian community that had happened during Fico's previous premiership.
'We can count on their support and they can count on ours, and though the situation of Slovakia's ethnic Hungarian community isn't what it could be, the government has shown a significant, positive change in its approach to the problems of the Hungarian community,' the speaker said, adding that the situation was perhaps even more striking in the case of Serbia.
Kövér said after the assaults against Serbia's ethnic Hungarians in the 1990s and early 2000s, the local Hungarian community was now 'in the best legal and political situation' under the governance of a party that was labelled nationalist.
Asked to comment on Tisza Party leader Peter Magyar's accusation that Orbán had 'betrayed' the ethnic Hungarian communities beyond the borders, Kövér said: 'What else could we have expected from this gang other than … an attack at the first possible sensitive moment against the national cooperation that also exists with Hungarians across the border?'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Budapest Times
2 days ago
- Budapest Times
Bóka: Unfolding political struggle between sovereigntists and federalists will define coming decades
János Bóka, Hungary's EU affairs minister, said the unfolding political struggle between sovereigntists and federalists will define the coming decades. Minister Bóka told a panel discussion at the 34th Balvanyos Summer Open University and Student Camp in Băile Tușnad (Tusnadfurdo) that one of the most significant dividing lines between European party families is whether they consider themselves federalists or sovereigntists, emphasising that European institutions and European policy were in need of change. Minister Bóka said this key difference between political groupings also impacted the division of powers and how the EU's institutional system functioned. 'This struggle between two political wings is just starting to unfold, and it will define the coming decades,' he said, adding that the political discourse would also shift in this direction. Minister Bóka said Europeans were unsure about what to do in order to bring about change in the EU. He said there appeared to be no limit to the number of national governments that could fail because of the migration crisis without it triggering a change in the EU's migration policy. The minister said this raised the questions as to whether European citizens still had a role in shaping politics, whether European democracy still existed and whether sovereignty still mattered. Minister Bóka said an EU member state should have the chance to shape certain policies if they did not work at the European level. 'This is exactly what Hungary is doing regarding migration, for which it has to pay a serious monetary and political price,' he said.
Budapest Times
2 days ago
- Budapest Times
Abraham Accords could guarantee long-term peace in Middle East, minister says
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the Abraham Accords signed during US President Donald Trump's first term should be expanded in order to guarantee long-term peace in the Middle East. 'The name of peace in the Middle East, as in Ukraine, is that of Donald Trump,' Minister Szijjártó said in New York on Wednesday. The Abraham Accords signed during Trump's first term led to Israel normalising its relations with several Arab countries after several decades of unsuccessful peace efforts, Minister Szijjártó said ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, according to a ministry statement. 'I believe the path to long-term peaceful life in the Middle East is through the renewal and expansion of the Abraham Accords,' the minister said. 'This is also very important for us, because the security of the Middle East has a significant impact on the security of Central Europe,' Minister Szijjártó said. 'If there's no security in the Middle East, then the migration waves heading towards Europe will always intensify. Right now, we're seeing these migration waves making their way through the land route, so they're a direct threat to Hungary.' Minister Szijjártó said another reason why peace in the Middle East was important for Hungary was that, as a Christian country, Hungary felt responsible for persecuted Christian communities there. Hungary's government has so far spent around 30 billion forints (EUR 75.1m) supporting Christian communities in the Middle East, which has included contributions to the Catholic Church's humanitarian and social programmes in the Gaza Strip, the minister said. He also expressed Hungary's support for a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Middle East, saying they would give those living in the region a chance at a more peaceful life and open the door for the release of the last Hungarian hostage 'One Hungarian hostage is still being held by Hamas, which is why we demand the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages,' Minister Szijjártó said. Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said that in addition to the UN forums, he will also hold economic talks as well as meetings with Saudi Arabia's economy minister and Serbia's minister in charge of gender equality. He said that because the European Union had so far been unable to sign a free trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council, it should hold talks with one Gulf country at a time in order to reach agreements with them as soon as possible.
Budapest Times
4 days ago
- Budapest Times
FM: EU must work with countries that strengthen bloc's competitiveness
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the European Union must work together with countries such as Andorra that do not threaten but strengthen the bloc's competitiveness. Minister Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Andorra counterpart Imma Tor Faus that Hungary and Andorra 'represent similar positions' regarding the problems that currently burden the world. 'Both have a vested interest in international politics returning to the basis of mutual trust since, failing that, there will be negative consequences for countries of a modest size,' a ministry statement quoted him as saying. 'When I visited Andorra last year, my goal was to prepare for the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union. Unfortunately, I must say that the symptoms of an ailing Europe at the time, such as the dangerous security situation, extreme energy security challenges and the dramatic decrease in competitiveness, are currently even worse,' he added. Minister Szijjártó said the EU was steadily weakening as a result of a series of mistakes by Brussels. The minister said both Hungary and Andorra had an interest in an EU that aided the performance of national economies instead of putting countries under 'political pressure'. 'Instead of suppressing national characteristics, it should strengthen them,' he added. The EU could grow stronger by strengthening ties with countries that improve cooperation with member states, he said, adding that Andorra was an 'excellent example' of this and the reason why Hungary urged the EU to finally sign the accession agreement, given that the talks are already completed. 'Clearly, Andorra's economic performance would contribute to the EU's economic performance,' he said.
