Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto Warns NATO About Trying to Pursue a Cold War With China

At a meeting of foreign ministers belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Bucharest, Romania, these leaders discussed its strategic concept. Specifically, NATO’s relations with China, energy security, and infrastructure.
Prior to the second day of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Szijjarto went on social media to say that “There is no need for the risk of another cold war, there are enough problems.”

He used the example of Hungary as a country that “clearly proves that cooperation [with China] based on mutual respect is possible.”

Per a report by Sputnik News, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry back in August reported that the Chinese battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), a global leader in the development and manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, plans on building its second plant in Europe in Debrecen. Sputnik noted that he construction of this plant “could be the largest investment in Hungary’s history.”

Hungary is a curious case of a country pursuing a hedging policy against the emerging Eurasian rivals on the world stage. Unlike the Collective West, Hungary’s foreign policy is guided by hard-nosed realism. So it’s willing to engage with authoritarian great powers such as Russia and China without issue.

The West should take a page from the Hungarian playbook and pursue a more balanced foreign policy with the two Eurasian behemoths. In the case of China, there are legitimate concerns about its trade and immigration practices. However, that does not require prosecuting a Cold War against it.

This is something that the current crop of leaders fails to grasp.

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