The Hungarian government delegation attending the UN Forum aimed at promoting the dialogue between civilizations in Vienna on February 27 drew attention to the need to protect minorities – announced Szabolcs Takács, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for Global Affairs.

Speaking at the fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the Hungarian delegation reinforced Hungary's commitment to participation in the Forum. Hungary also declared that the protection of various – religious, ethnic and other – minorities is extremely important for preserving cultural diversity.

The creation of the Alliance was initiated in 2004 by José Luis Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister at the time, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 and in Madrid in 2004. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also embraced the initiative and it was UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who announced the establishment of the Alliance at the UN General Assembly in 2005.

The aim of UNAOC is to promote an informal dialogue between countries of the world's various regions, and to thereby promote the bonds between civilizations, cultural, religious, linguistic and other communities – said the Hungarian Deputy State Secretary. He said that the purpose of this informal dialogue was to stimulate global thinking on the struggle against religious and other forms of extremism, including terrorism.

Although there are some overlaps with other international organisations, such as the areas of operation of the UN, the European Union and UNESCO, it is still important for Hungary to participate in such a process with its own means and in light of her interests, added Deputy State Secretary Takács.

The Hungarian statement also pointed out that after 2010, the Hungarian Government developed economic strategies of "eastward opening" and "global opening". The dialogue of civilizations also fits into this idea well, pointed out the MFA official.

The cross-government approach is also reflected in the fact that besides the MFA, the Ministry of Human Resources was also represented in the delegation through State Secretary responsible for Religious Affairs György Hölvényi, said Deputy State Secretary Takács. 

The main topics of this year's forum were the freedom of religions and denominations, the media and migration. Among others, the opening session of the fifth UNAOC Forum were also attended and addressed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Mun, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo, who especially discussed the civil war in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the armed conflict in Mali.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)