Both the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Human Rights of the Hungarian Parliament put the discussion of Előd Tóásó’s case on their agenda on May 22th, 2012. Előd Tóásó, who is accused of crime against the state, has been unlawfully in detention in Bolivia for more than three years. In both committee meetings, Gergely Gulyás, Member of Parliament (Fidesz) and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights as well as Márton Vajna, former Head of the Foreign Office of the President of the Republic reported the discussions and experiences of their three-day visit – commissioned by Foreign Minister János Martonyi – to La Paz. During the visit, the delegation gathered information about the case of Előd Tóásó held in detention.
Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi emphasised that his visit to South America had given new impetus to Hungary’s relations with Latin America.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister had business discussions in Sao Paulo, the economic and financial centre of Brazil on May 17th, 2012.
The Foreign Ministry of Romania summoned Oszkár Füzes, Hungary’s Ambassador to Bucharest on 16 May 2012. In the absence of the Ambassador, Ádám Balázs fulfilled the request as chargé d’affaires ad interim.
János Martonyi met the Hungarian community in the Hungarian House of Sao Paulo on May 16th, 2012. The Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised in his speech the fact that the new Fundamental Law of Hungary took responsibility for the Hungarian communities and the importance of and support for the preservation of national identity.
Within the framework of the Hungarian foreign policy’s global opening, János Martonyi pays an official visit to Brazil, the country with the fifth largest territory and the sixth largest economy in the world on 15-18 May 2012.
Foreign Minister János Martonyi opened the exhibition on the life of the Swedish rescuer, compiled in Hungary, at the Wallenberg commemoration in the building of the Federal Audit Office of Argentina on May 14th, 2012.
The Hungarian Minister for National Resources decorated Mr. Jan Kennis, Dutch cultural diplomat – current vice president of SICA – with the award Pro Cultura Hungarica. The decoration was handed over, in the name of the Minister by H.E. Gyula Sümeghy, Ambassador of Hungary to the Netherlands during a short ceremony at the Embassy on 11 May 2012.
János Martonyi met Argentinean Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman in Buenos Aires on May 14, 2012. Reviewing the bilateral relations of the countries, the two Ministers pointed out that there were several unexploited opportunities in the development of bilateral cooperation, especially in the field of economic relations.
Before the Hungarian-Argentinean bilateral diplomatic discussions, János Martonyi met the representatives of the Hungarians living in the South American state during his official visit to Argentina: he commemorated József Mindszenty, attended an oath of citizenship ceremony, and presented the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary to the editor-in-chief of the Argentínai Magyar Hírlap (Hungarian Journal of Argentina).