Real external policy Hungarian-style

Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter BALAZS, who assumed his office in April 2009, is a newcomer to diplomatic affairs. However, during our conversation he was masterly evading acute questions like an experienced diplomat. At the same time, he explained what Hungary expects from Ukraine and told about potential projects our countries can implement either in bilateral cooperation or in cooperation with the EU. Why has Hungarian government refused from another IMF tranche? How does it manage to improve the country’s economy, which has suffered from the global crisis? Answers to these and other questions are in the interview below.

Mr. Balazs, guests usually come with presents on Christmas Eve. What present have you brought to Ukraine? Is it true that the main topics in the negotiations will be gas transit and the question of national minorities as reported by the Hungarian news agency MTI?

“The aforesaid topics will indeed be the main ones in the negotiations. But there are also many other topics. Today (the interview took place on Dec.22. – Author) I have had an opportunity to meet with President Yushchenko and Minister of Education and Science Ivan Vakarchuk. Tomorrow I have quite an extensive program with my counterpart, the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs. These things are enough to come to Kyiv.”

What about the presents? Can Ukraine expect Hungary to follow the example of Latvia and Lithuania, which have made visas free for Ukrainians? Even the Polish foreign minister has promised to cut the visa fee for our citizens during his recent visit to Ukraine.

“In my opinion, we can exchange presents, because it is a family tradition. People give and receive presents. Ukraine can make a quite good present for us, for example, in the sphere of education of the Hungarian minority residing in the Transcarpathia. I am speaking about a very small Ukrainian minority, making only 0.3 percent of the overall population.

“I have tried to explain to the Ukrainian president that Ukraine is Hungary’s largest partner. But its capital, Kyiv, is located too far. The rest six capitals of our neighboring countries are located close to Hungary. And only Kyiv is a remote star in the sky. At the same time, Ukraine is very close to us. We have common borders. And everything that is taking place in the Transcarpathian region is very important to us.

“I think we can consider making a good present for Ukraine once we receive one in exchange. But the best present may be a kind of gesture concerning education of the Hungarian minority that would like to study in Ukraine’s higher education institutions. We have some questions in what regards the entry exam for graduates of Hungarian schools. In our opinion, entry exams should take into consideration the fact that those young people have received a different kind of education. I asked whether those eager to enter one of the three institutes that teach the Hungarian language and literature – in Berehove, Mukacheve, and Uzhhorod – have to pass their exams in Ukrainian. My question made [the Ukrainian] minister think.”

What is Hungary ready to give to Ukraine as a present in exchange?

“We can consider the question of free visas. I, for one, am ready to do so.”

Another question is gas transit. Is it true that your country is afraid that there may be problems with Russian gas supplies?

“I can only express my hopes that the incident that has happened at the beginning of this year will not repeat. There have been some problems, and Ukraine has promised the EU and President Barroso that nothing of this kind will repeat next year. Hopefully, everything will be fine with energy supplies to Hungary.”

What about possible prospects of cooperation between our countries?

“There can be many fantastic ideas concerning their development, specifically, the transport infrastructure. Above all, discussions can be held on the very important pan-European corridor, Kyiv – Budapest. I have also noted that the Transcarpathian territory has a peculiar location, as five states cross there in a very small circle. And four of them are EU members: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, with the center in western Ukraine. Therefore the key to the region, which borders on four EU countries, belongs to Ukraine. Together we can make fantastic things in the spheres of transport, energy, and transporting of goods. This is a strategic spot for Europe.”

Could you give some more concrete examples?

“As for concrete things, we will discuss them tomorrow. Above all, this refers to railroad, which can reload express trains from Hungary to different Ukrainian cities. We also should work on changing the western standard of rails into Ukrainian one. We also should develop the transit of goods. Chop – Zahony used to be a very important logistics line in Soviet times. And for Ukraine it will be very important to export goods to the European Union. These are big gates to the EU, which will require new investments. We can lobby for EU money to be allotted for this kind of projects in Brussels.”

As is known, your country supports EU enlargement and Ukraine’s entry into the European community, which you think will do good to Europe. Why isn’t this vision supported by the old leading EU members, which do not even want to mention the prospect of membership in the preamble to the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which is being drafted?

“Certain conditions are needed to acquire membership. Above all, the country that wants to join the EU should have political will, which is as a rule expressed by the parliamentary majority. Next, the club rules come into force: the EU members should have a unanimous position. This means that there should be agreement and support given by all the EU members, now totaling 27. Third, the necessary conditions include technical and legal steps, which make the way to your membership painful. If you want to be part of the large unified market, you should implement the whole set of rules of this market. And these are very high West European standards. Hungary has inherited the Austro-Hungarian legal system, which was highly developed. Therefore, we did not have any difficulties with this. But we have seen that other countries had to implement very complicated rules. So, technical conditions are not very easy.”

But we are speaking not about membership at the moment, but having the prospect of membership included to the preamble.

“Again, this is bringing us back to the fact that the agreement of all EU members is needed. Hungary may be of use to Ukraine. We are also interested in cooperation with other neighbors, e.g. Serbia. We were among the first supporters of implementing a visa-free regime with Serbia. There is a need to have all EU members on your side.”

Most of Ukrainian experts consider that the EU is carrying out a policy of double standards. Old European countries have different attitudes to Ukraine and Russia. Brussels is interested only in regular supplies of Russian gas rather than helping the young Ukrainian democracy. On the other hand, the EU has not urged Russia to fulfill the Sarkozy-Medvedev agreements, signed last year. Do you agree with this statement?

“No.”

Why?

“Speaking about the EU’s stand, we have common norms. Speaking about particular EU members, they do not include Hungary.”

Don’t you see any threat of “shroederization” when former premiers or chancellors are employed by Gazprom or other Russian oil companies?

“I think that Russia has peculiar features. It is a box in a box, in other words, it is special. Ukraine is special, too. So is Turkey. All our partners have their own peculiarities. Therefore the approaches should differ. For the EU, it is difficult to shape a single position concerning its big partners, like China or the US. Ukraine is one of the EU’s big and extremely important partners. You have just mentioned the EU membership prospect. This question does not refer to Russia. Each partner should enjoy a peculiar and unique individual approach.”

Should it be based on values?

“Surely. I am competent only in Hungary’s foreign policy. And I can assure you that our position in relations with all of our partners is based on the same values.”

Do you support the call expressed by the Ukrainian intelligentsia in its letter to the EU leaders – not to lose patience concerning Ukraine but continue helping it?

“Hungary’s position includes supporting of the new Eastern Partnership initiative which offers closer relations with the EU for six countries, with Ukraine being the largest. I guess this is a good initiative, which deals with help and cooperation. We can do much more within its frames if we want to.”

Continuing the EU topic, can you tell what Hungary’s priorities will be when it will be running EU presidency in 2011?

“It is true – our country will be running presidency in 2011. We have submitted a very complex document. We are working jointly with Spain and Belgium, and we want to pay more attention to the Eastern Partnership, West Balkans, and the EU’s new Danube Strategy. Besides the economic cooperation, we will pay attention to the cultural cooperation of the entire region.”

What do you think of Russia’s role in this region? Doesn’t present-day Russia, which many monitors say has been revealing all the more authoritarian features lately, pose a threat to the democratic regimes in Central and Eastern Europe?”

“Russia is an extremely important partner of Hungary. We have every reason to cooperate with Russia and pay special attention to the events taking place in this country. We try to analyze and comprehend them. We have a good dialogue. This year I have had two important meetings with Sergey Lavrov. We cannot read the future, so we analyze the facts. We are content with our cooperation and liaisons with Russia.”

How would you analyze the fact then that Russia has passed a law, which enables its president to approve single-handedly the decision to send Russian troops abroad as well as approve Russian military doctrine that will make it possible to use nuclear weapons first?

“In June, we have renewed the NATO-Russia Council. We have held two meetings on this level: in Corfu and recently in Brussels. I think it is a good form of dialogue between our country and Russia.”

What do you think of the draft agreement on European security proposed by the Russian president?

“We are studying this document. In my opinion, first of all we should analyze the document. Then we should compare it with the current agreements. I think we have good security foundations at the moment. On the one hand, it is stipulated by the Washington Treaty, which is physically embodied in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; on the other hand, it is the European Security Policy. Besides, from our past we have inherited such a good structure as the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). And this organization is the greatest negotiation table in Europe. We should look at the way we use all these structures and what will be the added value of any new idea.”

Let us say a few words about the economic situation in your country, which has also suffered from last year’s financial crisis and asked IMF for help. How should one understand the statement made by the Hungarian agency MTI that your country is not going to take the fifth tranche from this financial organization?

“Indeed, last year Hungary was in bad shape, and we needed support from the international financial organizations. Our government has come to power in mid-April, and we started to successfully implement the program of economic recovery. All this has immensely improved the situation. Today we can finance from the free market revenues. And we will not use the IMF loan to the full.”

What is the secret of success of your government’s program?

“This secret of success is known to every woman: to produce more and spend less. Housewives know this better than we do. This is precisely what we are doing: we are trying to receive more budgetary revenues and spend less in order to maintain economic balance and not lose the trust of foreign investors. Against this background, we are working to renew the growth, because growth is the real engine. This balance preserved, I should note, one should be careful not to paralyze or freeze the economy. Real art goes beyond what housewives do, because growth is the force pulling the country out of the crisis. Now we hope that next year, which will be somewhat complicated, the country’s economy will get back on its feet and great investors won’t leave Hungary. I must note that our government is working actively. The forint is now much stronger than it was a year or nine months ago.”

Your CV indicates that you have worked mainly as an economist and professor. Is this experience helpful in your work as a top-rank diplomat?

“I am not a professional politician. Neither am I a member of parliament. I have agreed to head the ministry because I understood that this was important. Hungary was in a very complicated situation. The prime minister asked me to support the changes in the foreign policy domain. I have accepted the proposal, and I think I am doing my utmost to justify expectations that refer to our foreign policy. At the moment we are carrying out a very dynamic and persistent foreign policy.”

Do you put greater emphasis on economy in foreign policy?

“No, this is real foreign policy. Being a foreign minister, you should do your work and take care of the country’s security, various alliances, trends, and resolution of conflicts, specifically verbal. Of course, this is connected with the government trying to stabilize the economy. It is good to be versed in economy. Then it becomes easier to explain to your partners what is going on in your country. But I am not taking away the job of the ministers of finance and economy.”

You have come from the city, which is a place of birth of the Budapest Memorandum 15 years ago on which Ukraine is pinning many hopes that refer to assurances of security of sovereignty and territorial integrity. At the moment this document is a matter of debates, which is linked to the fact that Ukraine has found itself in a security vacuum and remains between two blocs, NATO and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. What can you say in this regard?

“I think that Ukraine can feel secure. If you ask me, I consider NATO a stabilizing factor in this region. We are seeking peaceful cooperation with all of our neighbors, including Russia. I am very glad that this year we have restored a good dialogue with Russia. In my opinion, our real enemies are international terrorism, climate change, global warming – not some European countries. We should live in peace.”

What would you wish to Ukrainians on the eve of Christmas and New Year’s Day?

“Above all, I wish to Ukraine political stabilization, economic prosperity, and good relations with all of its neighbors.”