The European Parliament’s plenary updated an earlier resolution on Wednesday, September 13th, to condemn, among others, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s peace-seeking trip to Minsk earlier this year for contradicting the EU policy of the “diplomatic isolation of the current regime.”
The text reads:
[The EP] deplores the official visit by Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Minsk in February 2023, which contradicts the EU’s policy on Belarus, Russia, and the war of aggression against Ukraine.
The resolution, which provides EU guidelines for member states for their relations with Belarus, follows up on an earlier document adopted in March, which already condemned Szijjártó’s February trip, and “any action, including high-level visits to the de facto authorities in Minsk, which casts doubts on the EU’s clear lack of recognition” of the Belarusian leadership.
According to the foreign minister, the goal of the talks with his Belarussian counterpart was “to make sure Belarus does everything possible for peace and everything possible to prevent the prolongation and escalation of the war.” Szijjártó also stressed that “the most important task now is to save human lives. … And the only way to save people’s lives is to end this war.”
The foreign minister entertained no illusions about the coming backlash from Brussels, predicting the condemnation to journalists while still in Minsk:
Obviously we are aware of the international context we are in. It is also clear that after you report that I was here today and discussed the importance of peace with my Belarusian counterpart, I will be attacked by many.
My fellow politicians in the West and the international liberal media will all say how bad it is that I was here today and that I held talks with my Belarusian colleague.
I would like to say one thing in response. The Hungarian position has always been clear: the channels of communication must be kept open.
Following the EP’s repeated condemnation on Wednesday, Szijjártó reacted on his social media by hitting back at the European Parliament with a Qatargate reference: “Is this the same body that had several members arrested for corruption?”
