After a meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó took to Facebook to announce that the United Nations must make a serious shift in how it functions.
His post reads as follows:
The UN is facing serious challenges, and its leaders must finally move out of their comfort zone if they want to save the organization as the last truly universal, inclusive institution for East-West dialogue, as we discussed with Guy Ryder, UN under-secretary-general for policy.
Donald Trump’s criticisms are justified, the UN is not working effectively today, it is often hampered by the liberal mainstream and often comes down on the heads of member states rather than helping them. But the situation can be remedied: eliminate duplication, streamline the organization, cut unnecessary costs and focus on real global challenges.
It is in Hungary’s interest that the UN survives and functions effectively, and we are ready to participate in the joint work for a real and rapid reform of the UN.
Budapest has just proved that decentralization of UN operations is the right direction, that many UN institutions are operating effectively in Budapest, and that we are ready to host more. But UN leaders cannot sit in their ivory tower in New York; change is really needed now. If they do not understand this, they could endanger this otherwise great international organization.
Despite often encountering resistance in global affairs, with the return of U.S. President Donald Trump, Hungary and its leader, PM Viktor Orbán, are now at the forefront of dialogues to enact much-needed changes in the architecture of institutions such as the UN and the EU. The country is also very much at the center of the dismantling of agencies such as the USAID. Millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer money was funneled to leftist, anti-Orbán media and projects, which at times, openly declared their intention of ousting Orbán and his party, Fidesz, from power.
Other institutions active on the ground in Hungary include Amnesty International and Transparency International, to name just two.
And yet, now that money and the will to go after Hungary has evaporated with Trump in office, it is telling that one of Zelensky’s priorities has been to use money (most certainly received from the U.S. and EU) to go after Orbán himself. The Hungarian prime minister has been a vocal critic of the war in Ukraine and has rallied for peace to avoid further deaths and destruction since the start, something Kyiv has used to smear him as a Putin-ally.
