“Hungarian-American relations rest on secure foundations and although they are sometimes burdened by tensions economic cooperation is excellent and joint tasks performed within the framework of Transatlantic cooperation is similarly good”, Péter Szijjártó declared in New York during a speech at the Harvard Club.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister is on a two-day official visit to New York, where he will be making a speech at the United Nations debate on peace and international security on Tuesday and travelling on to Costa Rica later the same day.
During his speech at the prestigious Harvard Club of New York City, about which he informed Hungarian news agency MTI by telephone, Hungary’s chief diplomat said: “Hungary has provided successful solutions to the serious challenges facing Europe and its economic cooperation with the United States is successful. Hungarian-American relations may sometimes be burdened by various tensions, but this does not affect the joint work performed by Budapest and Washington within the framework of Transatlantic cooperation.”
“Europe is facing the greatest challenges since the end of the Second World War”, Mr. Szijjártó said in his speech, listing the situation in Ukraine, energy issues, immigration and the increasing terrorist threat as some of these major tasks. “Hungary has provided patriotic and sovereign solutions to these challenges and this means that Hungary is no longer part of the problem, but part of the solution”, he declared, also stressing that Hungary’s example and success is proof of the fact that the European Union can only be successful with strong Member States, not with weak ones. “It is clear that Hungary would not have been as successful had it not received a strong mandate from the electorate”, he stated.
The Foreign Minister also spoke about the various tensions that sometimes burden Hungarian-American relations, stating that Hungary has often received criticism from the United States and Hungary is always prepared to debate concrete criticism, but finds it hard to respond to generalisations. “American political criticisms are called into question by the fact that 1600 American companies have invested 9 billion U.S. Dollars in Hungary and provide jobs to some 100 thousand Hungarians”, he said, adding that “if Hungary were truly as bad a place as some critics claim, demanding U.S. capital would not go there. On top of which last year was the first time that the United States became Hungary’s most important market outside the European Union”. Mr. Szijjártó also pointed out that forty of the United States’ multinational companies are currently operating in Hungary.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade reminded his audience at the Harvard Club that hundreds of Hungarian soldiers are performing military service around the world, partly under American command, and this fact also discredits American political criticism aimed at Hungary. Hungary is one of the twenty-three countries taking part in operations to combat the Islamic State terrorist organisation, he said, declaring: “What could be better proof of our solidarity, reliability and dependability if not this fact?”.
Following his speech, Mr. Szijjártó met with the directors of several Hungarian start-up companies that are increasingly active on the American market at the WaterFront Center. Prior to his speech at the UN on Tuesday, the Foreign Minister will hold negotiations with the directors of several large American corporations including Comcast and Lockheed Martin.