Péter Szijjártó

Péter Szijjártó MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 September 2014
Prime Minister	Viktor Orbán
Deputy	László Szabó
Preceded by	Tibor Navracsics
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2002
Personal details
Born	(1978-10-30) 30 October 1978 Komárom, Hungary
Political party	Fidesz
Spouse(s)	Szilvia Szijjártó (2009–present)
Children	Péter Patrik
Alma mater	Corvinus University
Website	Official website

Péter Szijjártó (born on 30 October 1978) is a Hungarian politician, who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 23 September 2014. He has a master's degree in International Relations, and in 1998 was elected as the youngest member of the Municipal Assembly of Győr.

He was elected a Member of the National Assembly in 2002. He was the youngest Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2006.

Studies

Péter Szijjártó was born in Komárom on 30 October 1978. After spending a half year in the United States, he finished his secondary studies at Czuczor Gergely Benedictine Secondary Grammar School of Győr in 1997. He graduated from Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration (today Corvinus University of Budapest) majoring in international relations and sports management.^[1]

Career

He began his political career in 1998, when he was elected as the youngest member of the Municipal Assembly of Győr. He served as vice chairman of the education, culture and sports committee. He was one of the founders and the first president of the Fidelitas, youth organization of Fidesz in Győr. He was elected a vice president of the Fidelitas 2001, and also became a member of the Fidesz's national board.

Szijjártó with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in 2015

Szijjártó has been a member of the National Assembly of Hungary since 2002. He was the youngest Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2006. He was appointed Vice Chairman of the Committee on Youth and Sport Affairs in 2004, holding the office until 2006. He was elected President of the Fidelitas in 2005, replacing András Gyürk. He also became the leader of the Győr branch of Fidesz. He held the position of Fidelitas leader until 2009, when Péter Ágh was nominated as the new president.

Before Fidesz came to power in May 2010, Szijjártó was the spokesman of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union. He served as personal spokesman of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from 2010 to 2012.

On 4 July 2012 Orbán nominated Szijjártó as the chairman of eight economic committees to boost the Hungarian government's policy of opening up trade with countries to the east as well as consolidating Hungary’s role in supporting the Western Balkan nations' EU integration, the Central European Visegrád Group of heads of government announced the same day. Szijjártó, who had taken up post on 2 July, also worked to strengthen co-operation with neighboring countries.^[2]

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán appointed Szijjártó as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in September 2014, when his predecessor Tibor Navracsics resigned due to his new position in the European Commission.^[3]

During a breakfast meeting of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations in Jerusalem, Szijjártó said that Hungary would not place the settlements labeling on products originating from the West Bank. This decision followed the Notice adopted by the European Commission on November 11, 2015, incorporating guidelines to label imports from the Israeli settlements.^[4] He considered the aforementioned policy to be "irrational," and even threatening to a potential Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.^[5]

Szijjártó also addressed the contemporary European migration crisis, describing it as "the greatest challenge that the EU has had to face since its foundation" and condemning European leaders for the misguided policies their political correctness engendered.^[5]

See also

• Official website

References

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