The world “needs President Trump to win” this coming election because only a “strong” American leader can offer “stability and security to the international order,” according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, who argued the war in Ukraine “cannot be resolved on the battlefield” and that Trump “can make peace” between the sides.
Szijjártó also slammed President Joe Biden’s weakness on the global stage and relentless push for a Palestinian state as well as the EU’s “hypocrisy” over Israel, asserting that Hamas’s defeat is critically imperative for global stability.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, Szijjártó discussed global geopolitical dynamics, and what a future working together with Trump would look like in the international arena.
The interview comes as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán along with the Hungarian Foreign Minister traveled to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to meet with the former president, in a move that was harshly criticized by President Biden, who accused the Hungarian premier of “looking for dictatorship.”
Trump, who hailed Orbán as a “Great Leader” ensuring his country’s safety, currently leads Biden by four points, indicating a decline in Biden’s favorability ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, according to a recent New York Times poll.
Russia-Ukraine War: ‘No battlefield solution’
Underscoring the need for a non-military resolution, Szijjártó highlighted the widespread displacement, significant casualties, and educational disruption that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has led to:
Look, we have now been living in the neighborhood of the war for more than two years, and I can tell you that this war has really tragic consequences. While we have received more than a million refugees in Hungary, there are multiple millions who had to flee from Ukraine, millions of families torn apart, and hundreds-of-thousands in casualties. We still have more than 1,500 schools and kindergartens where Ukrainian children are being enrolled.
“So we see the devastating impact of this war,” he added, “and we also see that this war cannot be resolved on the frontlines.”
Insisting that “there’s no battlefield solution” to the conflict, the Hungarian diplomat called ending the war the only viable means to reach a ceasefire agreement.
“The battlefield can only offer casualties and destruction — not a solution,” he said. “In order to decrease the number of casualties, to decrease the number of deaths, and to decrease the destruction, the best thing to do is to stop the war.”
Noting it is universally acknowledged that Ukraine will not win against Russia, Szijjártó suggested that “we also know that Russia cannot win against the entire west” either.
“So if none of them can win against the other, then there will unquestionably be negotiations to end the war, anyhow” he said. “So the question is why these negotiations are not taking place sooner rather than later.”
“The sooner these negotiations begin, the less people will die,” he stressed.
‘We need President Trump to win’
According to Szijjártó, if former President Trump is elected in November, “Hungary is optimistic that such negotiations will begin and the war will end.”
“Without President Trump on board, this war will continue for a long time, resulting in many more casualties and culminating in much destruction,” he warned. “So our foremost hope is that in the case that President Trump wins the 2024 election, he can make peace.”
“We Hungarians give our full support to that as one of the very few countries in Europe which is pro-peace,” he added. “You have to understand that the majority of countries in Europe are pro-war, and just a tiny minority are pro-peace.”
Despite that, he argued that in the case of a Trump 2024 victory and the former president’s pro-peace policies take effect, “then some of those European countries might change their positions as well.”
“So we need President Trump to win,” he added, “and then we trust that his planned course of action will be the ideal way to achieve peace in Ukraine.”
Describing the attempted efforts to disqualify Trump from the ballot as “really frustrating,” the Hungarian politician noted that “such kinds of legal, political attacks usually always take place against conservative politicians.”
“If you look around, conservative politicians, on most occasions, are faced with major legal and political attacks,” he said. “Whereas, when there’s even a minor level of criticism leveled against a liberal politician, the whole liberal world erupts in outcry and warns that it is the ‘end of democracy’ and ‘end of the world.’”
According to Szijjártó, if a similar court case as the ones against Trump had been brought against a liberal politician, “the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), United Nations, European Union — everybody — would have announced universally and unequivocally that this is the end of democracy and such kinds of actions must be disallowed.”
“Yet, if a conservative politician goes against the liberal mainstream, he’ll be under attack, as the liberal mainstream operates as if this is normal conduct,” he added.
European ‘hypocrisy’ over Israel
The Hungarian minister then addressed Europe’s “double standards” toward the Jewish state during its current conflict in Gaza, contrasting that with its attitude and policies towards Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, the European Union behaves on many occasions in a very hypocritical manner, and, on many occasions, applies double standards,” the Hungarian minister said.
“That’s exactly what’s happening here,” he added.
Hungary has been a steadfast ally of Israel, consistently blocking anti-Israel resolutions within the European Union, demonstrating its staunch commitment to Israel’s interests and security, which it believes contributes to global well-being.
When it comes to Israel, Szijjártó maintained, “we believe that it must not be forgotten how this conflict started.”
“There was a brutal, heinous terrorist attack taking place against Israel, with the firing of thousands of rockets into the country, the killing of over a thousand people, and the kidnapping of hundreds more,” he said.
“We know all these cruel crimes were committed,” he added, in reference to the the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, which Hamas perpetrated on October 7 in an operation stemming from its radical beliefs.
The Islamist organization targeted Israelis at a music festival and in Israeli towns in a large-scale massacre that saw terrorists kill approximately 1,200 people and wound over 5,300, with at least 242 hostages taken — more than half of whom are still being held captive. The vast majority of the victims are civilians and include five Hungarian nationals, one of which was declared dead in January, and four taken hostage, of which one still remains in Gaza.
According to Szijjártó, Israel’s military offense against Hamas is paramount for the world’s interest, to ensure security and prevent similar attacks across the globe.
“We understand that the success of the anti-terror operation Israel is conducting against Hamas is not only in Israel’s interest but a global interest,” he said, “because the most important duty now is to make sure that such a terrorist attack will not be repeated anywhere, anytime, against anyone.”
“And in case a terrorist organization can freely attack us — western civilization — then we will have no guarantee that such kinds of terrorist attacks will not be repeated,” he added.
At the same time, Szijjártó insisted that “we have to make sure that this war is not going to escalate.”
“Therefore, we have to push, for example, the Lebanese government to avoid direct confrontation with Israel,” he said. “And we have to make sure that all the hostages are released.”
“But we must not forget how this whole situation started; we must not forget what happened at the very beginning,” he added. “So we see double standards and hypocrisy from Europe, forsure.”
The Foreign Minister expressed his belief that the reason the EU has taken such a radically dichotomous position on the two conflicts is due to an atmosphere that allows countries “very limited space for rational kinds of dialogue” because “the liberal mainstream rules over the Europe Union.”
“The liberal mainstream, unfortunately, rules over the media, over politics, and over the European political landscape,” he said. “So when you represent a rational approach, when you raise the question why we would not want to avoid more people dying, for example, then you are immediately attacked as ‘spies’ for the Russians, allies of Putin, or ‘propagandists of the Kremlin.’”
“So the space for rational dialogue is not there,” he added.
Szijjártó suggested that the current “problematic” atmosphere, where conservatives are “constantly attacked by the liberal media and liberal politicians in a concentrated way,” serves as yet another reason why “we would definitely be pleased” if President Trump is elected this coming November.
With Trump in office, he posited, “this kind of immense pressure against the conservative political forces all around the world will be substantially diminished.”
Palestinian statehood
He then addressed the so-called two-state solution, which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state, ostensibly in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and some eastern sections of Jerusalem, in exchange for the terror-supporting Palestinian Authority ending its conflict with Israel and living at peace with the Jewish state.
Though the long-failed plan was dropped by the Trump administration in favor of a broader and more realistic peace initiative, the Biden administration and some European countries continue to push its implementation.
Szijjártó noted that for such a plan to succeed “you need the consent of two states — and it’s definitely not there.”
“As long as there is no consent by two states to make a two-state solution, it does not make sense to push it because you will not reach a result,” he said. “So, instead of pushing such a solution in this artificial manner, we should first see how [the two] people can live there peacefully together.”
According to Szijjártó, the historic Trump-brokered Abraham Accords peace agreements that were entered between Israel and multiple Arab allies, “have shown that there’s a way.”
“Normalization of the relationship between the Arab countries and Israel is starting to take place. Infrastructural development is starting to be carried out. Direct flights were launched. Embassies have been opened — reciprocity,” he stated.
“So, the improvement these agreements brought about was absolutely tangible on the everyday level of the lives of the people,” he added.
Instead of “pushing political ideas,” he insisted that “first, the practicalities should be put forward.”
“And in the case where you have practical successes and trust being established, then the political solution may be put on the agenda,” he said. “But, first, lay down the basis.”
New global order
On the global rise of populous governments and politicians, Szijjártó argued that a powerful and determined US leadership is crucial for maintaining global stability.
“What we know, from experience, is that when there’s a strong American president, then he or she can give and can lend stability and security to the international order,” he said.
However, he noted, in the absence of such strong leadership, widespread instability abounds.
“When there’s a lack of a strong American president, then instability and uncertainty prevails all around the global order,” he said. “Therefore, if such a president is elected, then I believe that this new world order can be stabilized.”
“As a result, I’m pretty sure that the war in Ukraine would end very quickly,” he added, “and that the conflict and the crises in the Middle East can be resolved more easily as well.”
Citing President Trump’s Abraham Accords as an example of a successful and much-needed approach to foreign policy, he described the historic agreement as “the first peace accord between Israel and the Arab states, after long decades of failures, which have sowed the hope of peace for coexistence of people from different backgrounds in the Middle East.”
“So the New World Order is now clearly being formulated before our eyes,” he posited, “but it’s currently shaky, unstable and uncertain, of course, for many reasons — one of which is the lack of a strong American president.”
On the heels of Hungary agreeing to allow Sweden to join NATO last week, Szijjártó proclaimed his country’s desire for a robust NATO.
“We are interested in NATO being strong,” he said. “We are among those eight countries which have complied with the two percent requirement — which means that 24 did not, by the way.”
“On the other hand, we think that discipline is very important,” he added. “So the decision which says that NATO is not party to the war in Ukraine, and that members must do their best to avoid a direct confrontation with the Russian Federation, must be respected, and by everybody.”
Foreign trade
Turning to his country’s trade status, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade boasted of Hungary’s successful economic openness.
“We are a country which is ranked among the top 10 of the world when it comes to the openness of its economy, and our exports have reached around 85% of our GDP,” he stated. “So if there’s a country on Earth which is seeking free and fair global trade without obstacles and without restrictions, it’s Hungary.”
“Therefore,” he continued, “we oppose artificial obstacles, we are against decoupling, we are against the isolation of eastern and western economies, and we in Hungary have shown very clearly that such a system of trade is possible.”
He also pointed to how the central European country has emerged as a key investment hub while setting a trade record with the United States.
“Hungary has become a meeting point of eastern and western investments,” he said. “With the US, we broke the record of trade last year [between our nations] — more than $9 billion — which is an unprecedented achievement.”
“There’s a record level of investment volume from the US to Hungary, with 1,700 US-based companies operating in Hungary and employing more than 105,000 Hungarian employees,” he added. “We have also given cash incentives to 111 US-based companies to carry out big investments in Hungary over the last decade.”
With economic cooperation “flourishing” with the US “and also with Israel,” Szijjártó called the trade-related ties between the countries “very tight.” However, he also warned about growing disruptions of key global trade flows.
“What we understand is that these security-related crises, like the war in Ukraine or the Middle East, are absolutely harming global trade because supply routes are being cut; supply chains are becoming uncertain,” he said.
Calling attention to Yemen’s Houthi terrorists, who have compromised a critical global maritime trade corridor in recent months, he reiterated the need for security to be restored.
“So in order to ensure an undisturbed means of global trade to take place, these wars and security-related crises must end,” he concluded, calling such crises “one more reason why President Trump must win the upcoming presidential election.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.