Intelligence has a special responsibility in the current situation, as the services must reveal and prevent intentions that would undermine Hungary's security or drag our country into the war in Ukraine, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Thursday.

At the handover of the new building wing of the Information Office (IH) for international relations, the head of the ministry emphasized that the government expects the intelligence to fulfill these tasks and participate in prevention. "The developments of recent years and the excellent preparation of our colleagues can make us optimistic that today's Hungarian intelligence is capable of successfully carrying out this very important task," he said. Péter Szijjártó stated that it was due to Russian military aggression against neighboring Ukraine

today in Hungary, the guarantee of security "supersedes all goals, issues and tasks", this is a prerequisite for the preservation of freedom and sovereignty.

And for this, well-functioning intelligence is essential. He underlined that in the last four years the government has significantly strengthened intelligence, its resources and institutional system, and the necessary budgetary resources are available for further modernization. In this regard, he also addressed the establishment of the crisis management center of the Ministry of Interior and the establishment of the intelligence academy. Furthermore, he called it an important step that foreign policy, foreign economic strategy and intelligence finally "move in a unified target system and use a unified tool system." According to the minister, the past decade was the age of crises, when major world political and economic changes followed and continue to follow one another at an extraordinary speed. As he said, for the second time in the last two years, the status quo has broken down, and there are only speculations about what the new order will look like in the next period. "The fact that Hungary carried out a successful health defense, as well as the fact that 2021 was the most successful year in Hungarian economic history, all praise the intelligence work," he said, pointing out that the government was able to rely on accurate information during its decisions.

Source: MTI

Featured image: Péter Szijjártó Facebook/previous recording