Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó inaugurated the new Hungarian Embassy in Washington on Tuesday. In his speech, he stressed, amongst others, that Hungary would like a joint success story with the United States.
In his inaugural speech following an address by Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, Mr. Szijjártó stressed: “The opening of a new Embassy building always means the start of something new, a new initiative”, pointing out that not far from there something new has also begun, which is leading to profound changes, referring to the fact that the Embassy is close to the White House, the office and official residence of the American President.
“We are very glad about the new changes in Washington”, the Foreign Minister declared, stressing that Hungary has great expectations with regard to a new kind of Hungarian-American cooperation, with reference to which he declared: “It is no exaggeration to state that a new world order is coming into being, and this is the case even if it is not always accompanied by broad consensus”. “But if we look back on history, there has never been any truly great change that was accompanied by consensus at the beginning”, he said.
According to the Hungarian Foreign Minister, one of the main characteristics of this newly developing world order is the United States’ more patriotic economic policy, adding that Hungary is also striving to realise a strongly patriotic economic policy.
“We are closely monitoring developments in America and the decisions of President Donald Trump. Hungary is rooting for the President to be successful and to make America a safe and great place, because this will make the whole world a more secure and great place, too”, he explained.
“We are facing extreme challenges; the threat of terrorism is greater than ever before and the Islamic State is threatening the whole of the civilised world”, the Minister stressed. Mr. Szijjártó pointed out that although the global coalition against the Islamic State jihadist terrorist organisation had recently achieved various successes, in his opinion the fight against ISIS and terrorism in general must be continued until it is totally eradicated. “I think Donald Trump is right when he says that we need to exert much more effort to make this fight more successful”, Mr. Szijjártó said. At Wednesday’s meeting of foreign ministers of the global coalition against terrorism at the U.S. Department of State, he will be putting forward a proposal calling for an increased Hungarian presence in Iraq, he stated.
Mr. Szijjártó stressed that Hungary is proud to be one of the 27 countries that has sent troops to fight the jihadists, and that Hungarian and American soldiers are fighting side-by-side against terrorism.
The Minister expressed his hope that the opening of the new Hungarian Embassy building will also mean a new beginning for Hungarian-American relations based on common values and mutual interests. “Based on mutual respect and our historical friendship, we are ready for a new beginning in bilateral relations”, he highlighted.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister also spoke about the worries regarding illegal immigration, which can also be felt in the United States, and said: “We understand this, and Europe has similar problems”. “It is natural that the greatest worry for a leader who is in charge of a nation’s future should be guaranteeing the security of the country and its people. We are doing exactly the same thing in Hungary, as a result of which we have had to suffer many attacks”, he said, adding jokingly: “In this regard we cannot compete with the new President of the United States”, to which the invited guests laughed in agreement.
“We would like to build a joint success story with the United States and make American-Hungarian relations great again”, Mr. Szijjártó said at the close of his speech.
Following the event, in reply to a question from Hungarian news agency MTI, the Foreign Minister explained: “We are experiencing new beginnings throughout the world. It is becoming clear that the era of political correctness and hypocrisy in global politics has come to an end, and a totally new system of requirements is developing with regard to the global economy; totally different criteria are determining the competitiveness of individual countries than before”. He stressed that the new American administration’s approach to Hungary has changed and highlighted: “It is clear that attempts to interfere in Hungarian internal politics have ceased, and that the tone is much more constructive and the approach is much more correct from the American side”.
Prior to the official inauguration, the new Hungarian Embassy building was blessed by a Catholic priest, a Protestant clergyman and a Jewish Rabbi.
The new location is a true city mansion: built in 1879 in Victorian style, and later expanded with neo-classicist elements, it once belonged to the father-in-law of Alexander Graham Ball, the inventor of the telephone, and was once also owned by Governor of New York Levi P. Morgan, who was Vice-President of the United States between 1889 and 1893.
The previous Embassy building will remain the home of the Hungary’s Consular Office.