October 17, 2013

Madame President Park,
Foreign Minister Yun,
Foreign Secretary Hague,
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a privilege for me to address the opening session of the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace. It was an honor for Hungary, in the first place, to work with Korea and the UK continuing the process which started with the 2011 London Conference. Back then, our common reflection was prompted by the growing awareness of a paradox, typical of technological progress throughout history: that new opportunities entail new risks. Once again, mankind has to find the right balance. We have to be concerned about the security of the cyberspace without being obsessed with it. That is easier said than done. It will take a long and complex process.But the bottom line is that we have, first, to demonstrate that freedom and security are not antithetical but even mutually reinforcing objectives in cyberspace – just as in the physical space; and, second, to convince governments and other stakeholders that they can be best reached in an inclusive, international cooperation.

The London Conference enabled us to make an initial inventory of concepts and ideas with a view to establishing a minimum common ground for the like-minded countries and taking the first steps. Budapest, in turn, helped solidify this platform for further steps needed for broadening the appeal of our cause and reaching out to new partners. I am pleased to see that our Korean friends are not lowering the level of ambition. In fact, what our Korean partners have proposed is no less than to take our narrative global, to engage in a stocktaking exercise about the various findings and agreements at diverse international fora and establish a series of regional and/or thematic workshops linking one conference to the next. Looking around in this grand hall, judging from the conference program and especially the document ‘Seoul Principles and Guidelines for an Open and Secure Cyberspace’ I can say that the chances of success are high.

Madame President, Foreign Minister Yun, may I take this opportunity to thank you both for the exemplary co-operation and to commend your Preparatory Secretariat, as well as your teams for their tremendous commitment and professionalism with which they prepared this event.

Let me just share with you a few considerations that have a special importance for Hungary.

As a side-event of the Budapest Conference, we organized a Youth Forum, offering a stage for students, young inventors and entrepreneurs active in related sectors to showcase their innovations. I am delighted that our Korean friends decided to carry on by inviting students from all over the world to share their ideas on cyberspace issues in a Global Essay Competition. Children and youth are a special stakeholder group in its own right not only because of their attraction to everything new but also because of their being the special targets of cybercrime.

In Budapest, my distinguished colleague and friend, Foreign Secretary Hague warned that cyberspace is the emerging new theater of conflicts and that there is already an exponential rise in cyber criminality. I agree: to tackle cybercrime is one of the most pressing issues of our time, requiring concerted national, regional and international effort. We have already some tools at our disposal such as the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, also referred to as the Budapest Convention. But we are only at the beginning.

Our Korean friends are placing proper emphasis on potential co-operative frameworks in tackling cybercrime and employing capacity building mechanisms in all areas. Cyberspace is by its nature international. The challenges and opportunities it brings defy the categories of government control and national jurisdiction. We need to engage as many stakeholders as possible, with special regard to civil society. We envision a multi-stakeholder model for any normative framework and governing activities in the digital realm with clearly defined and duly observed competencies.

I am convinced that the new digital paradigm can and should drive equitable and sustainable economic and social development by creating new opportunities. Moreover, it has become essential to the free exchange of ideas. Besides security, our Korean friends have not neglected ‘the opportunity’ dimension either.   I am particularly pleased that Hungary has been able to help ’deliver Africa to Seoul’. There are historical ties that bind Hungary and Africa especially in the field of human resources: we have been maintaining extensive student exchange programs. Accordingly, “The Road to Seoul - Engaging Africa in tackling cyber security challenges” workshop organized by my Ministry was part of the recently held Budapest Africa Forum with the high-level participation of more than 40 African countries as well as the African Union, represented at the highest level. On that occasion, the economic miracle of Korea was highlighted as an example for the connection between technological innovation and leapfrogging.

But not only Africa, Hungary too needs to catch up. The National Assembly has enacted a Cyber Security Strategy for Hungary, almost in parallel with the adoption of the European Union’s own Cyber Security Strategy. Hungary appreciates that the EU Strategy precludes any trade-off between security and freedom online, that freedom in cyberspace must not be equated with impunity and that the same norms, principles and values that the EU upholds offline should also apply online. Hungary is contributing actively to the measures, legislative and other, adopted by the EU in this field.

We also have a special concern which should be addressed under a future international framework. When it comes to access to cyberspace, besides technology and affordability we propose paying attention to local language content. We must remember that the content that is most important to people is typically in their own language. In sum: we should consider the impact on the future of the smaller languages.

London was an event of the like-minded. Budapest widened the horizon. Seoul is going global. It is only natural that in this way we are likely to be confronted also with diverging views. Yet we need to be able to dialogue not just with our allies. The real significance of Seoul is that it offers a forum, for which we should be grateful.

Also as a compatriot of János Neumann, a father of the electronic computer may I thank our hosts for carrying forward the London-Budapest initiative, for their gracious hospitality and wish ourselves all very fruitful deliberations for the next two days.

Thank you for your attention!

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)