Trump beacon of hope for peace, minister says

Szijjarto said that if the former president was re-elected, then there would be “a huge chance of bringing peace to the world, including Europe … and central Europe, too”.

According to a ministry statement, he said war on the Russian-Ukrainian front was “more and more brutal”, and only an external actor may bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, making it clear to them that “no solution lies on the battlefield”.

“Only Donald Trump has such a chance,” he said, adding that the Republican presidential candidate would hopefully seize it at the earliest possible opportunity.

Meanwhile, Szijjarto said the fact that the EU’s foreign policy chief had changed the venue of the bloc’s informal foreign affairs council to Brussels from Budapest was “not of great importance”. “It didn’t matter to me then, and it doesn’t matter now,” he said.

He insisted that those in favour of holding the meeting in Budapest outweighed those against.

Szijjarto said that the recent meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council had been characterised by “unbelievable hysteria”, and he referred to “pro-war politicians venting their frustration” at Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s “peace mission”.

He noted that Slovakia “despite the pressure, stood by Hungary openly”. The minister said there had been “clear cooperation between two patriotic governments” who worked together “in a fraternal way” despite not being politically aligned “according to the old divides”, he added.