János Martonyi attended the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, joined also by the Croatian Foreign Minister, at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25. The ministers and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton discussed the most important issues of international politics.
As regards the Syrian crisis, they condemned violence and agreed that it was acute to improve the humanitarian situation. They also discussed the activities of the international community as well as of the European Union, and its member states, in connection with Syria; moreover, they ensured UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi about their support.
EU High Representative Catherine Ashton informed the foreign ministers about the informal talks she had with the Iranian nuclear negotiator. She declared that the EU was willing to support the consultations carried out by the political directors and the ministers of the E3+3, but it expected a constructive attitude from the Iranian party at the negotiations. The foreign ministers stated that more efforts were to be made to reach a peaceful settlement. Concerning the Middle East peace process the EU is ready – in the framework of the Madrid Quartet – to cooperate in elaborating the conditions for starting direct talks between the two parties. The position of the EU member states has not changed, and they still believe that a two-state solution would be conducive to a long-term peace settlement. They also discussed the grave financial situation of the Palestinian Authority, while Lady Ashton urged member states to make further contributions to ease the situation. They all agreed that unilateral steps taken by either party would not help the resumption of negotiations.
There was also agreement among foreign ministers on the fact that the persuance of meetings at political level would be useful in promoting the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and would help the settlement of unresolved questions. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton stated that she would be ready to mediate between the two parties if they declared their readiness to continue their dialogue. When evaluating the parliamentary elections in Belarus, the foreign ministers came to the conclusion that the preparation and the organization of the elections did not meet the democratic standards. The EU High Representative and the foreign ministers expressed their high expectations about the upcoming elections in Georgia and in Ukraine, which will be a milestone in the democratic development of these countries and will have great impact on their relations with the EU.
Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi emphasized that a stand-off characterized the situation in Syria. He underlined that the Hungarian embassy was still operating in Damascus, and that the question was what we could do to improve the situation of the people there. He pointed out that it was crucial with respect to the future of the country whether the Syrian opposition could join forces or not. He claimed that making the sanctions more severe was necessary, and proposed that the next Foreign Affairs Council make a decision about it in October. It is vital, he stated, that the sanctions should inflict the government and not the Syrian people. After the meeting János Martonyi signed a joint declaration, with Hungary’s V4 partners (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and the Benelux states (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), on cooperation with Ukraine.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)