Wars never conclude on the battlefield, they conclude around the negotiating table, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said during a panel discussion on “Geopolitics of Connectivity: From Competition to Collaboration” held within the framework of the Yerevan Dialogue International Forum.
The Foreign Minister believes Hungary could be instrumental in bringing peace to the South Caucasus region. “It’s not an exaggeration, because we are in a position that we can talk to both parties of this conflict,” Minister Szijjártó said.
He reminded that Armenia and Hungary reinstated diplomatic relations two years ago and pointed to the changes that have taken place since. “We broke the record of trade last year. We launched direct air connection between the two countries in July. We hosted 1,000 children of displaced families in Hungary on summer vacation. We have just allocated an additional 800,000 euros to support the Armenian Christian Church, to support the families in need. We are about to start a cooperation on the field of energy and set up a joint economic commission to move forward with the economic cooperation. We are opening our Embassy in here in Yerevan. Armenia is opening its Embassy in Budapest.”
“In the meantime, we are having a strategic cooperation with Azerbaijan, having a strategic cooperation in the field of energy, oil and gas as well. That puts us in a position that we can help the procedure to finalize the peace agreement between the two countries. In my last talks with both parties it was an option that Budapest could serve as a venue to sign the peace agreement. Signing a peace agreement in a peace-loving capital of a peace-loving country of peace-loving people: this is the instrumental help we can provide,” Péter Szijjártó stated.
The Foreign Minister also reminded that Hungary contributed to the release and return of five Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan in 2021.
