Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, Honourable Secretary of State.
This week is off to a good start! It is only Monday, and we have already had a cordial, friendly and serious discussion with the United States Secretary of State. We agreed on this visit with the President of the United States when we were over there in November. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary of State, for visiting Hungary and honouring the Hungarian people with your presence.
We have reviewed bilateral relations. There is a new US president, so I am adapting to this in terms of the expressions I use, and I would say that a golden age has dawned. A new golden age has dawned in relations between the United States and Hungary. I would like to tell the Secretary of State that in the Hungarian language and in Hungarian politics we tend to use understatements; but the fact is that even though I have been involved in politics for more than thirty years, I really cannot remember a time when relations between our two nations were at such a high level, so balanced and guided by such good intentions. For this we owe our thanks to President Donald Trump and to you. Perhaps the last time we were at such a high point was when President George Bush Senior visited us as communism was about to fall – a visit that greatly contributed to our liberation from the communists and from the Warsaw Pact. Since then there have been periods in Hungarian–American relations of varying quality, but we have never been at as high a point as we are now.
Since January last year, decisions have been made on seventeen American investments in Hungary. This is a decade-long record! Hungarians can once again enjoy visa-free travel to the United States, for which we would also like to thank the Secretary of State. Hungary has been invited to join the newly formed Board of Peace, the inaugural meeting of which will be held this week – possibly on Thursday – in Washington, D.C., where I will be representing Hungary. We have also concluded key agreements in the field of energy, covering crude oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy. These agreements, together with the exemption granted to Hungary by the President of the United States allowing the use in Hungary of Russian gas and oil, will contribute to Hungary’s continued energy security and enable us to provide households and industry with energy that is extremely cheap by international standards. And, of course, we also discussed the conditions under which MOL could acquire the Serbian oil refiner, the company called NIS.
For my part, I have assured Secretary of State Rubio that Hungary will continue to support the United States’ peace efforts in Ukraine, regardless of any European conflicts that may arise. The current US president has done more than anyone in international politics to bring about peace in the Russo–Ukrainian war. Although everyone knows it, I will repeat that this war would never have broken out if Donald Trump had been President of the United States then. And if he were not the President now, we would have no chance of ending this war peacefully in the foreseeable future. So we express our respect and gratitude to the President of the United States for his efforts to achieve peace. Of course, Hungary remains ready to host a peace summit here in Budapest, and I have confirmed to Secretary of State Rubio that we extend to President Trump a standing invitation to visit Hungary.
Secretary of State, thank you very much for the opportunity to meet today.
