Foreign Minister: Hungary strives for achievement of  Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agreement

ArmInfo.Global security today is at its worst since the end of the Cold War. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Peter Szijjarto announced on October 27 in Yerevan at a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.  In this vein, he noted that the South Caucasus was no exception, and military actions led to the suffering of hundreds of thousands and millions of people.

"Hungary strives for peace and the search for peaceful solutions in  any military clashes. And this also applies to the South Caucasus,  which is important for Europe for a number of reasons. In particular,  you are our neighbors. In addition, you can help us on issues  important for Europe, because it has been facing the problem of  energy resources for quite a long time. We need new sources of energy  and the Caucasus is the region from where this energy can be  obtained. And therefore, we Hungarians want Armenia and Azerbaijan to  reach a peace agreement that will guarantee the fact that the people  of this region will live in peace for decades to come," the Hungarian  Minister said, adding that all residents of this region deserve to  live in peace after decades of suffering.

Regarding Armenian-Hungarian relations, he recalled that for many  years (since the fall of 2012, ed. note) there were no diplomatic  relations between Armenia and Hungary, however, in December 2022 in  Poland, he and his Armenian counterpart decided to resume diplomatic  relations.

"We are building a cooperation that will serve two nations and  countries. There are common foundations.  For example, Christian  roots. We, Hungarians, are proudly saying that we enjoy a Christian  statehood for over 1000 years, and then we come to Armenia, we see  the dates and immediately become humbler. Of course, the Armenian  Christian Church played a very important role in restoring ties. We  have previously tried to show our goodwill by facilitating the  release of 5 POWs in 2021," Mr.  Szijjarto recalled, referring to the  release of Armenian POWs from Azerbaijani captivity.

The minister listed the assistance provided to refugees from  Nagorno-Karabakh. The Hungarian minister said that Budapest has  allocated 115 million forints to assist families from  Nagorno-Karabakh. He also recalled that earlier, during the  coronavirus pandemic, Hungary donated 100 thousand doses of  vaccination to the Armenia.

"Hungary will continue to do everything to develop relations. As a  sign of goodwill, another 40 million forints will be sent to help  families from Nagorno-Karabakh. Hungary is ready to participate in  the treatment of these people. Our medical centers and children's  camps are ready to accept children," the Minister said, adding that  as a development of relations, the country's authorities also decided  to allocate 30 scholarship places to students from Armenia.