Ex-PM Gyurcsany eyes early elections

Budapest (MTI) – Former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said on Friday that the “democratic opposition” should pave the way for early elections.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban fails to accept cooperation, perceives the world in the dichotomy of friends and foes, looks for friends in the East and sees the West as an enemy, he said.

“This way of thinking contradicts Hungary’s national interests,” Gyurcsany told a conference organised by his leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) party in Budapest.

Hungary is more isolated today than at any time during the past 30-35 years, he said, predicting that the government would become even more isolated and face a series of political conflicts both within and outside the country next year.

Those who want to see a different foreign policy have no other option but to wish for the government’s soonest possible fall, Gyurcsany said, setting early elections as a key objective for the left-of-centre opposition.

Former state secretary of foreign affairs Matyas Eorsi said that Hungary had lost all allies in Europe, destroyed its relations with the United States and even its former allies, Poland and Lithuania, had withdrawn their support.

Concerning the recent shift in emphasis to economic diplomacy, former foreign minister Kinga Goncz called it a misunderstanding that diplomats should act as “peddlers” rather than promote Hungary’s prestige abroad.

The conference entitled “Isolated Hungary and the Global World” was also addressed by Paul Lendvai, editor in chief and co-publisher of Europaeische Rundschau, and Charles Gati, a US political scientist of Hungarian origin and a professor of Johns Hopkins University.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters