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Hungarian FM recalls strong Trump admin 'experience,' claims 'our hope is all' on former president
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó revealed in an interview with Fox News Digital that former President Donald Trump alone is his country’s “hope” for helping bring stability to a fraught and increasingly chaotic international security landscape.
“We do believe that actually the game changer here can be the U.S. presidential election, in case President Trump wins,” Szijjártó said, referring specifically to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Because knowing Trump, I think it’s absolutely possible – absolutely likely – that with two phone calls he can end this conflict.”
“No one else can do so,” he insisted. “I think only President Trump has the hope and our hope is all in President Trump to do this.”
When pressed on whether that could be understood as a preference for a second Trump administration, Szijjártó insisted that “We are not Americans, so we cannot say we prefer this or that.”
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“What we can definitely say is the following: Politics is based on experience, and we have a clear experience about the term of President Trump in office, and we have clear experience from the terms when the Democrats were there,” he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijjarto addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Sept. 25, 2024. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)
“From the aspect of the U.S.-Hungary relations and from the aspect of the global security situation, when it comes to the U.S.-Hungary relations, it’s obvious that during President Trump[‘s term] these relations have been on the top – best ever,” Szijjártó added.
Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have done little to hide their rosy friendship, with Trump invoking the Hungarian leader as a “strong man of Europe” who speaks well of the former president.
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Orbán proved this is a mutual dynamic when he chose to leave the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this year to instead meet with Trump in Mar-a-Lago in Florida to discuss foreign relations.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, with former President Donald Trump during his visit to Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (@PM_ViktorOrban)
“Under President Trump, everything was under control,” Szijjártó said. “Since President Trump has left office, the whole global security situation is deteriorating, so, I mean, these are experiences.”
“If we base it on our experience, we say yes, from a perspective of U.S.-Hungary relations, I think President Trump would bring another impetus, freshness, dynamism to this relationship, and I think if President Trump is elected, I think the world has a good chance to become a more peaceful place compared to the current situation.”
Then-President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, May 13, 2019. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Szijjártó argued that “if you look at an administration which is led by a president and vice president, and we didn’t hear too much initiatives from the vice president … means to me that the vice president was part of the structure 100%.” He noted that this comment came from a personal opinion “based on logic” and not the opinion of the Hungarian foreign minister.
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Hungary has attempted to pursue peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, positioning itself as a chief facilitator for resolving the conflict. Hungary assumed the presidency of the European Union as part of a rotating six-month structure.
Orbán seized on the opportunity to visit both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy within the first days after taking the seat, but European leaders moved quickly to stress that the role is purely ceremonial and that Hungary had no official capacity to represent Europe in any peace talks.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto spoke with Fox News Digital on politics and tensions in the international security landscape. (Fox News Digital)
Szijjártó blasted those who criticized the Hungarian effort, claiming “those who have been criticizing us, the prime minister, the peace mission, have clearly been the pro-war politicians.”
“They just simply don’t like that there is a country, there is a government, there is a prime minister in Europe who speaks direct language, who speaks honestly and who is not a hostage of the liberal mainstream,” Szijjártó said. “Therefore, it is very unpleasant and inconvenient for them that we are there and that we act, that we speak, that we make actions.”
Szijjártó resisted the idea that Ukraine should join NATO, noting that “including Ukraine into NATO would put us in a totally exposed situation, security-wise, because it would mean that NATO could be easily dragged into a war against Russia at any time, and this is something that we don’t want.”
“Everyone knows that any kind of direct confrontation between NATO and Russia would mean an outbreak of Third World War immediately, and we have joined the NATO to enhance our security and not to make ourselves exposed,” he said.
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Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war
World
Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’
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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.
“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.
Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”
“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”
Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)
“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.
As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.
According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.
The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.
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People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.
“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.
“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.
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Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)
Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.
Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.
“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.
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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.
“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.
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Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM
Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar said Europe “does not have unified position” on what role it should play in Iran as European ministers sought to establish a joint approach Sunday.
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As Israel and the United States conducted a joint military strike on Iran, leading to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Europe was kept on the sidelines.
EU member states did not participate in the operation and, in some cases, they were not informed prior as it is customary among strategic allies.
Asked whether Israel sought to keep Europe on the margins, Sa’ar said internal divisions within EU member states had kept them out of critical exchanges of operational details, unlike the United States, which the minister described as his country’s greatest ally.
“In Europe, you have all kinds of approaches,” he told Euronews. “You have countries like the Czech Republic which is strongly supporting this operation and then you have Spain, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world.”
On Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez was among the most critical voices in Europe, suggesting the US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk plunging the region into total war.
“We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,” Sánchez said Saturday. The Spanish PM reiterated that message on Sunday.
“We urge for de-escalation and call to respect international law in all conflicts,” Sánchez added. “You can be against a heinous regime, like the Iranian regime, while also rejecting a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous and outside of international law.”
Sa’aar said Israel considers the operation “fully justified” citing the right to self-defense from a regime that “has called for the destruction of Israel” and lashed at the Spanish prime minister for sending an “anti-Israeli, anti-American message.”
“Read the statement, they are standing with Iran!” he added.
When asked if any of his European counterparts had manifested an interest in joining the military operation or provide support on the ground, Sa’ar said he held multiple exchanges with European ministers over the weekend and suggested that “if others want to join, they will know have to convey the message.”
On Sunday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to back regime change in Iran in line with Israel and the US, saying that the “risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed” in comments on Sunday.
Sa’ar told Euronews said the strategic strikes and the elimination of Khamenei alongside top regime commanders could “create the conditions to weaken the regime enough to allow the Iranians to take their future into their own hands”.
“The future leadership of Iran should be determined by the Iranian people through free elections. Our only requirement is that whoever comes to power in Iran must not pursue the destruction of Israel,” he said.
Watch the full interview on Euronews from 8pm CET
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