János Martonyi (born in Kolozsvár,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

(today

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), 5 April 1944) is a Hungarian politician, who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1998 to 2002 and from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

– Hungarian Civic Union party. He was part of the

Amato Group The Amato Group, officially the Action Committee for European Democracy (ACED) was a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working, over 2006–2007, on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became ...

that unofficially drafted a new treaty for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

after the

European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...

was rejected by the French and Dutch voters.

Political career

He was a member of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) which he entered in 1988, which later he declared as a personal mistake. Martonyiorbanbush

On 29 May 2010 he was reappointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His most prominent tasks were the development of a strong and effective foreign policy, and planning for Hungarian Presidency of the European Union from January to July 2011. He visited

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

before his inauguration on the occasion of the passing of the Hungarian law allowing citizenship to be given to Hungarians living in neighboring countries. The Slovak government has considered the new law to be an aggressive move, with insufficient negotiation between the two countries. Martonyi said that hysteria in Slovakia is a result of the election campaign there. Martonyi's foreign policy's motto was a quote from 17th-century poet

Miklós Zrínyi Miklós Zrínyi (, ; 5 January 1620 – 18 November 1664) was a Croatian and Hungarian military leader, statesman and poet. He was a member of the House of Zrinski, a Croatian- Hungarian noble family. Full e-text available at He is the a ...

: "Don't hurt the Hungarian!" His first visit abroad was to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Martonyi mentioned the improved relations between the two countries. He said that Hungary has to help Serbia join the

. Martonyi met Vuk Jeremić who said the Hungarian EU Presidency will be very important for the integration of the Western Balkan countries. The Hungarian foreign minister also met Prime Minister

Mirko Cvetković Mirko Cvetković ( sr-Cyr, Мирко Цветковић, ; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and former politician who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2008 to 2012 and as finance minister from 200 ...

and President

Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. He later worked as a journalist ...

. At the end of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union he said "the past six months of Hungary’s EU presidency demonstrated that Europe was able to function and react to challenges, even if sometimes slowly and unevenly". Martonyi noted that number of integration issues has resolved during EU presidency, including EU enlargement, the approval of the Roma Framework Strategy and the Danube Strategy, completion of accession negotiations with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, as well as progress towards the admission of

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

to the

Schengen zone The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

Memberships

Martonyi is a member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, ) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 38 Nobel Prize laureates. The European Academy of Sciences and ...

, the Board of MOL and the Wilfred Marten Centre for European Studies.

Awards

Martonyi was awarded the National Order of Merit of France in 2000 and the Central Cross of the Order of the Republic of Hungary with Star in 2003. In 2016, he won the

Széchenyi Prize The Széchenyi Prize (), named after István Széchenyi, is a prize given in Hungary by the state, replacing the former State Prize in 1990 in recognition of those who have made an outstanding contribution to academic life in Hungary. Recipients ...

and the Rising Sun Order of Merit. He won the Hungarian Corvin Chain in 2018 and the Civic Hungary Award in 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martonyi, Janos 1944 births Living people Politicians from Cluj-Napoca Fidesz politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Hungary Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts