Foreign Minister János Martonyi met and addressed the foreign journalists and press attachés working in Hungary upon the invitation of the Hungarian International Press Association (HIPA) June 22, 2012. The Minister in his opening statement outlined the priorities of the Hungarian foreign policy to the audience and answered their questions.

In his opening statement Foreign Minister János Martonyi declared that the Hungarian diplomacy continues the program announced in the Strategy Document Hungary’s Foreign Policy after the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union published December 2011. This new, comprehensive strategy will be one of the cornerstones of the planned official strategy on foreign relations. The future document will be announced foreseeably during the fall of 2012. It will focus on foreign trade, international economic ties, cultural diplomacy, and educational cooperation besides foreign relations. While Hungary has been adapting to the recent changes it continues to follow its foreign policy priorities. The utmost important goal is to foster friendly ties with all countries, especially in the neighborhood. The Hungarian neighborhood policy focuses not only on the bordering nations but also on Central Europe in a broader sense. Minister Martonyi made clear that his conception of Central Europe is not determined by geography but it is a community of nations with similar cultural heritage.

Hungary will be the President of the Central European Initiative, a group of 18 countries, next year. As of July 1, 2013, Hungary will be president of the Visegrad 4 cooperation. To put it simply, 2013 will be a Central European Year for the Hungarian diplomacy. The Hungarian program of these presidencies is to dynamize the cooperation of the region. The Visegrad group has a greater importance, which is demonstrated by the recent meeting of the V4 Prime Ministers in Prague. Moreover, the Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski will visit Budapest July 5, 2012, and he will deliver a keynote speech on the goals of the Polish V4 Presidency (between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013).

This year there were political changes in the neighboring countries: Slovakia elected a new Parliament and government, in Romania a new government took office, and Serbia has a new President. Minister Martonyi expressed the Hungarian government’s readiness to cooperate with the new governing political representatives. He underlined that the common interests are significantly stronger than the differences. There are still open questions, but these shall and will be tackled by the two concerning parties, avoiding unnecessary mediation and public statements. In Romania the change of government was triggered by a motion of non-confidence. The reason for this political move was unfortunately a Hungarian ethnic minority issue (The Hungarian Faculty of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Târgu Mureș). The Hungarian-Romanian bilateral relationship has recently been impacted by misunderstandings as well. The representatives of the two governments are in dialogue. Minister Martonyi expressed his hope that State Secretary Zsolt Németh would be received in Bucharest soon, and the new Romanian Foreign Minister, Andrei Marga would visit Budapest soon. János Martonyi also recalled his successful meeting with Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia.

Minister Martonyi also addressed the challenges that Europe currently faces. He made the Hungarian position crystal clear: Budapest is interested in a Eurozone that not only survives the crises, but that becomes stronger and more comprehensive. Hungary is legally bound to introduce the single currency, and it will act accordingly when the situation is mature. He highlighted that the gap between the Eurozone and the non-Eurozone members shall not widen. Fragmentation and disintegration shall be avoided both within the Eurozone and also within the European Union as a whole.

Coming to the lately introduced new foreign policy priority, which is the Global Opening, Mr. Martonyi emphasized that it is an ongoing process. Looking at the figures of foreign trade, it is visible that the Hungarian export has increased by a higher rate to third countries than to the EU. This development effects naturally not only Hungary. This new policy is global not only in a geographical sense, but also expresses the Hungarian readiness to face global challenges, with special focus on water-related issues.

(kormany.hu)