Hungarian position on Palestinian independence not yet definite, says state secretary

Hungary’s government has not yet formed a position on the vote about the independence and United Nations membership of Palestine at the upcoming UN General Assembly in September, foreign ministry state secretary Zsolt Németh said on Tuesday after talks with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.

When forming its position, the European Union must follow the international jurisprudence according to which the principle of unilateralism is most useful when conflicts need to be settled, Németh said.

Ayalon said the approval of the UN resolution on the independence of Palestine would be “a most dangerous move” and it would result in an end to the peace process and dialogue, causing further confrontations.

Foreign ministers of the European Union will meet in Poland on September 2-3 to formulate a shared position for the UN General Assembly, Németh told MTI.

Ayalon also said that Israel was not building new settlements, and had not done so since 2001. He added that Israel’s policies were not against reconciliation and that the Israeli side was ready to discuss the issue of existing settlements.

Israel considers Hungary as a great democracy, Ayalon said, but noted that anti-Semitism resurfaced from time to time in many countries of the world and Hungary was no exception. Israel calls on Hungary’s government and people to do their utmost to eradicate this “ugly and dangerous” ideology, the diplomat added.

Németh told the press conference that the two countries would sign an agreement on education and culture. He added that thousands of Israeli students attend Hungarian — mainly medical — universities.