Hungary’s foreign minister will not support NATO becoming an “anti-China” bloc

12 Jul. () –

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Thursday that his country will support NATO cooperation with countries in the Indo-Pacific as long as the alliance’s goal is not to become an “anti-China” bloc.

“We need to remember what the acronym NATO stands for, at least its last two letters (North Atlantic), and what its founders intended. When NATO focuses on cooperation in the Indo-Pacific regions, that’s a good thing, but only as long as it’s not an organization directed against anyone,” he said.

After making this explanation, Szijjarto stressed that they will not support “anyone who pushes NATO relations in the Indo-Pacific in the direction of turning the Alliance into an anti-China bloc.” “It would be a great tragedy,” he said, according to statements reported by the Hungarian public television channel, MTV.

In this sense, he considered that they are not “absolute friends”, but they do not have to “get involved in an organization” against a common front. He also mentioned that it is a defense alliance, so this has to be taken into account when building foreign relations, without becoming an attack association.

NATO, in its joint statement, devoted ample space to lashing out not only at China, but also at Belarus, North Korea and Iran. After President Joe Biden accused China of supporting Russia’s arms industry, the Alliance said the “strategic relationship” between Moscow and Beijing put “the rules-based international order” at risk.