Speaking at the Community of Democracies (CoD) meeting on Tuesday in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi stated that Hungary seeks to strengthen democracy both within and outside its borders.

He added that it is important to accept that different customs, cultures and levels of economic development lead to different solutions for the same problems. Therefore, the best we can do is to share with our partners our decade-long experiences and ask them what they find useful, he stated.

The Foreign Minister, talking about the CoD, stated that this high profile meeting, created in 2000 on the margin of the UN General Assembly has come of age and has the possibility to become one of the defining players of the 21st century’s international community. He also congratulated the newly appointed Secretary General of the CoD Maria Leissner, and assured her that the group can always count on Hungary’s support.

Following the CoD’s session, Minister Martonyi participated on the EU and Croatia’s Foreign Ministers Meeting chaired by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. The meeting reviewed the main international issues faced by the EU and its member states, including Syria, the Middle East peace process, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and the Belarusian elections. Addressing the Tuesday event, Minister Martonyi said that the situation in Syria had come to a deadlock, noting that the Hungarian Embassy was still operating in Damascus. The Hungarian Minister stressed the need to impose stricter sanctions on the regime. After the meeting, Minister Martonyi and his Benelux and V4 counterparts signed a declaration about Ukraine, in which they expressed their hope for free and fair elections in the country in October.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)