Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto is set to speak at the Minsk Conference on Eurasian Security in Belarus on October 31, Politico reported.
Other participants will include Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Bassam al-Sabbagh. Representatives from 45 countries are expected.
According to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the event should be viewed as a competitor to the Munich Security Conference.
The CSTO was established in 2002 and includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Russia is by far the most powerful member of the alliance, which is similar to NATO in its structure.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has indicated that the event will focus on discussing and shaping future Eurasian security.
Szijjarto frequently visits Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Minsk, emphasizing Hungary’s reliance on Russian energy during a recent seminar organized by Gazprom.
He was the first high-ranking EU official to visit Belarus in 2023, following the government’s crackdown on opposition and support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, he has been the only EU foreign minister to visit the country.
Hungary has remained the most Kremlin-friendly country within the EU and has repeatedly opposed Ukraine’s accession to NATO and the European bloc, obstructed sanctions on Russia, and undermined Western aid efforts for Ukraine.
Belarus schedules next presidential election for January 2025
Belarus has scheduled its next presidential election for January 26, 2025, the country’s Central Electoral Commission announced on Oct. 23. Incumbent Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is widely expected to hold on to power following the election’s result.
