Interview: Former Hungarian PM supports ending South China Sea dispute with talks

Former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy said he firmly believed that the only way to resolve South China Sea dispute was through peaceful and direct negotiations that included only the countries of the region.

The talks to solve South China Sea dispute should not rely on an intermediary, Medgyessy told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Medgyessy voiced the view that the court of arbitration was not competent in settling the dispute.

Since January 22, 2013 when the Philippines unilaterally initiated the arbitration on the relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the Chinese government has repeatedly reiterated that it would neither accept nor participate in the arbitration.

Medgyessy noted that disputes regarding the South China Sea were quite long-standing. External factors, he said, would be unable to resolve this exceedingly complicated legal, military, and economic issue. In fact, any external international organization or country could make resolution more difficult, he added.

At the same time, he called on all parties to begin negotiations and resolve the problem in harmony with the aspirations of a world with a vested interest in development and conflict resolution. Endit