On the closing day of the NATO Summit, the minister stated that several leaders from the Indo-Pacific region would participate in the afternoon session. He welcomed the North Atlantic Alliance’s efforts to develop its external relations and pursue calm and mutually respectful cooperation with other parts of the world.
“At the same time, we must remind ourselves what the acronym NATO stands for, at least the first two letters, and what the founders intended when they established NATO. NA stands for North Atlantic, so when NATO focuses on cooperation in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, that’s fine, but only as long as it isn’t a conspiracy against someone,” he warned. “We will not support anyone pushing NATO’s Indo-Pacific engagement towards becoming an anti-China bloc. That would be a significant tragedy,” he said.
He pointed out that the world is already taking significant steps towards renewed bloc formation, which contradicts Hungary’s interests, as the country has historically been strongly divided in the conflict between East and West. “We don’t want NATO to be an alliance against anybody,” he underlined.
Péter Szijjártó stressed that the Hungarian government supports the Indo-Pacific partnership, particularly because it includes friendly countries such as South Korea and Japan. These nations’ companies play a significant role in developing Hungary’s economy and promoting the automotive revolution. “So we are talking about absolute friends, but we don’t want NATO to get involved in an anti-China conspiracy,” he said.
Finally, the minister emphasized that NATO is a defence alliance, and this should be considered when building external relations. “We cannot become an offensive alliance, and we cannot organise to create an anti-China bloc,” he concluded.
