If Europe wants to strengthen itself, “it must return to its own classic values” such as the protection of the institution of the family and the guarantee of the freedom of “religion and the rights of national minorities”, declared the Minister Hungarian Foreign Minister. noted in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

Addressing an interfaith conference organized by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of Europe, Péter Szijjártó said Hungary was at the forefront of protecting classic European values, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. communicated.

Szijjártó said that “the general international liberal public” had launched “very serious attacks” in the areas of family affairs, religious freedom and the protection of minorities, about which “a dictatorship of opinion, a hegemony of opinion ”had in fact emerged.

He said that anyone who dared to defend these values ​​which determined the existence of Europe was met with exclusion, criticism or even ridicule, being presented “as someone trapped in the past”.

Szijjártó insisted that Europe had weakened and that its population and its weight in the world economy were decreasing. The only way to regain his strength would be to return to his “classic values”, he added.

“If Europe loses all those things that bind us to European identity and heritage, it will be in big trouble,” he said.

Hungary, added the Minister, was “at the forefront” of protecting these values.

Szijjjártó said the current Hungarian CoE Presidency provides a great opportunity to highlight these issues. He insisted that many agreed with the Hungarian government. “They dare not express it openly,” he said, adding that they feared “the terror of liberal opinion”.

featured photo via Szijjártó’s Facebook page