Former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó
Viktor Orbán’s former foreign minister has announced that he is leaving politics behind and will join the corporate world. With the Hungarian Parliament descending into a place of scandal and anti-democratic policy making, it is understandable that Péter Szijjártó was unwilling to take part in this farce.
In a social media post, the MP for FIDESZ wrote: “I have submitted my resignation from my parliamentary seat. The reason for this is that I have received a highly prestigious offer from one of the world’s leading companies to fill an international position.”
BYD is one of the greatest success stories in the automotive industry over the past twenty years and is also the world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles. Starting today, I will continue to work as the executive responsible for the group’s external relations and the development of new business lines.”
BYD China. Photo: Hungary Today
It is well known that the world’s largest electric car manufacturer is setting up its plant in Szeged, where it will produce the most modern and globally sought-after electric cars. The investment agreed upon during the previous government’s term and in which Péter Szijjártó played a major role in bringing to fruition, is one of the most significant investments in Hungarian economic history, reported Magyar Nemzet. China’s BYD is currently the world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles. It has sold more than 4.5 million vehicles globally, dethroning Tesla and surpassing traditional automakers as well.
The Fidesz National Executive Committee will address personnel decisions related to the parliamentary caucus at its meeting next week, Bertalan Havasi, Fidesz’s communications director, told MTI on Wednesday in response to Szijjártó’s resignation from his parliamentary seat. When asked whether party chairman Viktor Orbán was aware of Szijjártó’s resignation, Havasi said that Szijjártó and Orbán had consulted with each other on several occasions in recent weeks.
In reality though there could be two cardinal reasons for Szijjártó’s decision to join a major Chinese brand, leaving politics behind. Firstly, personal disillusionment may have played a role in his resignation. Not so much in view of the election results in which TISZA had won a supermajority, but the fact that Hungarian voters seem to be largely on board with Péter Magyar’s anti-democratic punitive political campaign. A number of known conservative personalities have privately voiced their disappointment with citizens’ attitudes to the rise of an authoritarian political system in Hungary, while Szijjártó himself has not been heard from ever since the elections, many questioning his commitment to the political struggle ahead.
Another factor shaping his particular choice could have been the fact that FIDESZ’s former geopolitical allies, the USA in particular, have been very slow and reluctant to offer opportunities to former top personalities of the Hungarian conservative sphere. In contrast, Asian universities, companies, and research institutions are snapping up many of the talents who might have lost their funding or their jobs altogether. China seems to be the clear winner of PM Péter Magyar’s political purges and in the race for Hungarian talent in general. Hiring Péter Szijjártó might just be their biggest prize
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Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured Image: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
