Hungary

2015: Attended the state consultations on the SSD in Geneva – led by Norway.

March 2017: Met with Geneva rep. She asked some of the usual questions about how it fits with IHL, and concerns around NATO states not all having endorsed. Usual responses given. She said the MoD is the sticking point in Budapest and recommended a visit to meet with them after the conference. They are not ready to endorse, but they will be represented in Buenos Aires by their embassy, and plan to gather intel on the initiative and how effective it is.

March 2017: We have no record that they attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools.

May 2017: Peter (PEIC) had an informal meeting with Dr. Reka Varga, the Director of International Law Department of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. They discussed the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) and the Hungarian position. In brief, MFA doesn’t have any major objections against joining the SSD. However, MoD raised some concerns/questions: 1. Why does Hungary need to endorse the document which only reflects the existing obligations under international law (added value)? 2. Some of the provisions of SSD (or the Guidelines?) go beyond existing law (she didn’t specify which ones). 3. MoD also raised some concerns about the fact that SSD, although being presented as a State led process, is published on the website of an NGO (GCPEA?) the content of which is beyond the control of endorsing states. It seems they’re afraid that the endorsing States might be somehow associated with something they haven’t subscribed to. 4. They think that the term ‘attack on education’ is too vague and they see as problematic for the armed forces not to attack schools which are occupied by enemy forces/non-State groups (she mentioned Taliban as an example). 5. Although Hungarian troops are now not engaged in an armed conflict, they’re afraid that the SSD (although non-legally binding) might be used against them in the future. Peter promised to send Ms. Varga the Toolkit which might help them (especially MoD) better to understand the concept and the aims of the Guidelines.

May 2017: PEIC had an advocacy meeting with the Director of Hungary MFA’s International Law Department.

June 2017: Contacted Geneva mission to arrange capital visit. Not possible until after the summer. Informal meeting with Geneva expert. Advised that government is not considering the Declaration at present. Recommended capital approach and said that September is a good time to visit Budapest. Was interested to know which other EU member states are currently considering endorsement. I shared with her in confidence that we have been engaging with Croatia and Estonia.

August 2017: Gisela has written to the Mission in Geneva to request meetings with the MoD, MFA, and MoE in capital.

September 2017: Gisela will travel to Budapest to meet with the MOD and MFA next month. Human Rights Watch had an advocacy meeting with the Mission of Hungary in New York to discuss the Declaration, who pledged to make a positive recommendation to capital. GCPEA is following up to request meetings in capital.

October 2017: GCPEA travelled to Budapest in October to meet with a delegation of five government representatives, including the heads of international law of the MFA and MoD. There was a detailed discussion of the process and content of the Declaration and Guidelines. The government still has strong reservations and there is a climate of distrust of civil society in the country. Endorsement seems unlikely until after Germany and the UK have endorsed. GCPEA received advice from PEIC to approach the government through engagement with influential Members of Parliament. This activity will be picked up following parliamentary elections in the spring of 2018.

May 2018: During the Open Debate on the Protection of Civilians in the Sec. Council Chamber, Hunagry made a strong statement placing attacks on education (and the particularly devastating impact they have on girls) as a key area of focus in the protection of civilians.

February 2018: In advance of OPAC turns 18 event, GCPEA issued letter highlighting that Hungary has signed OPAC, Paris, and Vancouver, but not the Declaration,and calling for endorsement.

March 2018: Human Rights Watch made a submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in which they call on Hungary to endorse the Declaration. GCPEA shared the submission with the expert in the Geneva Mission who sent it to capital.

June 2018: Amy, Connor, and Gisela met with Ms. Magdolna Pongor, Third Committee Expert. The expert was eager to stress that protection of civilians, children in armed conflict, and education are priorities for Hungary. They are a member of the Group of Friends on Children and the SDGs. Her Ambassador takes a personal interest in these issues and had referred to the importance of protecting children in her statement at the OPAC Turns 18 event. The expert had attended the launch of Education Under Attack 2018. She seemed personally supportive of the Declaration and was at pains to paint a positive picture of Hungary’s position, before explaining that she was updated on the background, process, and giving Hungary’s usual arguments concerning the legal definition of terms such as “attacks on education”, the relationship with IHL, and certain (unspecified) operational aspects. Hungary “struggles to see how they could responsibly sign” and does not want it to be an empty signature. Amy responded to the question on attacks on education, explaining that the definition used in the preparation of Education Under Attack is not an IHL term because the report is a monitoring and reporting tool, not an accountability mechanism, and does not make an assessment of whether an attack constitutes a violation under IHL. The expert listened very receptively to examples of implementation and said these were helpful for her advocacy. She suggested that Member States sharing information on how they have decided to endorse and what they are doing to implement could help to convince her capital. Gisela followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister and received a very friendly reply, saying that she was impressed by the positive developments, and asking us to keep her updated. (She also recommended a book, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia Murad, who was kidnapped from her school.)

July 2018: During the UNSC Open Debate on children and armed conflict, Hungary co-sponsored resolution 2427 and joined the statement of Canada on behalf of the GoF which mentioned the Safe Schools Declaration.

September 2018: Ahead of the UN WPS open debate, GCPEA a letter addressed to Foreign Minister sent to the Mission in New York. The letter encourages the government to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and advocate for continued access to quality, conflict-sensitive education for women and girls.

October 2018: UN WPS open debate advocacy in New York: Gisela had a quick catch-up with the Attaché and Third Committee expert. She continues to be supportive, as is her Ambassador but didn’t seem hopeful. Gisela flagged to her that she would be briefing the EU member states at a joint meeting of COHOM and COHAFA on 11 October. Follow-up: Letter for Foreign Minister and gender recommendations sent by email.

October 2018: Brussels Briefing to EU COHAFA/COHOM: Hungary. Following the briefing, the delegate from Hungary (from capital) came to speak with me. She stressed their support for the content of the Declaration, but repeated an old concern they raised when I was in Budapest: if they endorse the Declaration, are they by implication accepting the content of related GCPEA publications, such as the framework for action and the toolkit. I explained the distinction, and followed up in writing to clarify further. We discussed the possibility that they can clarify their position on this matter in their endorsement letter. I recommended that they seek advice from Norway. I have flagged this to Norway who will see if they can follow up in Budapest.

February 2019: GCPEA met with the expert, who advised that there had been no change in Hungary’s position. She shared confidentially that her opinion was that various arguments put forward by the MoD and MFA were not genuine obstacles to endorsement. The increasing level of endorsement among European Union, Council of Europe, OSCE, and NATO members were the most likely factors that could influence a change in position. She asked to receive copies of the ICRC position and the NATO scenario on military use, which could be helpful. She asked if GCPEA/Norway were considering a pledge at the next International Conference of the ICRC, December 2019. Follow-up: GCPEA followed up in writing, sharing a letter for the Foreign Minister, the ICRC position, and the NATO scenario.

April 2019: GCPEA (Zama) met with the Second Secretary and Third Committee Expert, and the Legal Advisor of the Permanent Mission of Hungary in New York. They advised that there had been no change in Hungary’s position but promised to keep raising endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration with capital.

May 2021: The representative was quite supportive of protecting schools and education and committed to stress to her capital that only three EU countries have yet to endorse the Declaration and unity of the group on this issue is essential, especially at the Conference.

September 2021: Ahead of a meeting with capital, GCPEA met with the Permanent Mission of Hungary in Geneva to discuss endorsement by Hungary and inform the official about the Abuja Conference. GCPEA met with officials from the Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs in Budapest. The officials conveyed a more supportive position than in previous years.

September 2021 (capital level meeting with Bede): September 14, Bede met with representatives from the Hungarian ministries of defense and foreign ministry, to discuss the possibility of Hungary endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration. The meeting was well attended (2 from MOD, 2 from the MFA international organizations department, 2 from the MFA public international law department). All the participants arrived at the meeting apparently well briefed and fairly up-to-speed on the latest developments, including the upcoming Nigeria conference. The MFA began the meeting by saying that their position had soften over the years, a point that the MoD repeated. Both the MoD and MFA shared their previous concerns that had held them from endorsing. (1) Upset with the process behind the declaration and guidelines, and lack of state consultation. (2) That Guidelines go beyond IHL. And they were interested in hearing my responses, but since it came after their disclaimer that they were softening their position, that seemed a very easy conversation. The one concern that the MoD raised is that they don’t like how the GCPEA page is the first that comes up when you google the Safe Schools Declaration. It makes it look like its an NGO process not a state led process, and they worried that it implied that if they endorsed the declaration they were somehow endorsing GCPEA or all the other resources and tools on the site. I lamented with them that the google optimization of the Norwegian MFA’s site wasn’t better. They suggested that as a minimum maybe the GCPEA page could have a link to the Norwegian ministry’s website somewhere prominent? Additionally the MFA lawyers wanted to understand more about whether there was any reporting requirements on implementation if they endorse. I assured them there wasn’t, unless they wanted positive attention to it. The MoD said that current law in Hungary was all good already, so there would be no implementation issues. Then the MFA asked the MoD whether that also included anything on military use of schools, and the MoD admitted they’d have to look that up. The MoD also asked some questions about trainings, but then the other MoD person started answering that question for me, talking about the MoD’s existing pre-deploment trainings and how that references children’s issues, and how this topic could fit in there. The MFA were keen to hear the ICRC’s position. I promised to put them in touch with the ICRC. (Which I did, and the MFA apparently reached out immediately and got a very prompt response from the ICRC, which the MFA in turn told me was indeed more positive than it had been in the past, as I had promised them it would be.) MFA asked if there were plans to update the declaration in the future. I said no. MFA was keen to hear more about Unicef and UNESCO’s role in the Coalition, so I told them of their importance, and how they both were actively calling on countries to endorse. We also discussed Hungary’s previous efforts to keep schools free of military use in 1879 and 1914, which I dropped into the conversation, and immediately one of the MoD people started googling them on her phone and sharing updates with the other participants…I told them about the opportunity for a speaking slot in Abuja if they’d like to endorse. All and all, a surprisingly positive meeting, that leaves me kind of hopeful. I followed up in writing on a few issues immediately following the meeting, and they responded giving the update that they’d contacted the ICRC already. I intend to reply one more time this week, updating them on the Maldives’ endorsement.

October 2021: Hungary co-sponsored UNSC resolution 2601 (2021), the first thematic resolution on the protection of education in armed conflict and to mention the SSD (preamble).

December 2021: On 02/12 Nevena and Apolline met with Zsofia Csizmadia from the Geneva mission. GCPEA commended Hungary for its co-sponsorship on UNSC resolution 2601 (2021) and explained the positive development of this resolution for the protection of education in armed conflict agenda. The representative confirmed that co-sponsorship represented a positive step from their side. We had a quick de-brief on the recent meeting at capital (Bede represented GCPEA). She confirmed that this meeting had been important in highlighting the SSD and encouraged us to continue our outreach efforts in Geneva and at capital. GCPEA also briefed the representative on the Abuja Conference, including the key take-aways and recommendations. She was interested about Norway’s commitment on the State-led Implementation Network and Spain’s commitment for global trainings. We also highlighted examples of good practices shared at the Conference, particularly from the MoD panel and from the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management’s video statement, as well as recent endorsements. The Hungary embassy in Abuja participated in-person. We explained the type of implementation work that Hungary could work on if they endorsed, particularly at the MoD level, such as including child protection in trainings, and through the state led network. The representative asked about any development regarding endorsement at the EU level. We briefed her on upcoming opportunities for Hungary to engage on this agenda, including the Aria formula meeting held by Norway on 06/12 and the Humanitarian Forum organised by ECHO in January 2022. GCPEA followed up by email sharing further information on the Abuja Conference, examples of good practice, and the process for endorsement.

May 2022: Following GCPEA’s advocacy ahead of the UNSC Sexual Violence in Conflict Open Debate, GCPEA received an official letter from the MFA Hungary addressed to GCPEA Executive Director and stating that the expert from the mission would meet with us. On 12/05, GCPEA met with Ms. Magdolna Ponga, Second Secretary, Third Committee Expert, covering CAAC issues in NY. The representative was well briefed on the SSD (already met in NY with GCPEA in the past) and is very supportive. She told us that the recent meeting in Budapest (conducted by Bede in-person) had been very positive and useful for them. In particular, having the different ministries being briefed together proved helpful. She informed us that following this meeting, the MFA had made a recommendation to the government for endorsement. She said that she was following up closely the decision. GCPEA emphasized the growing number of endorsements at the EU and the need to speak with one unified voice, particularly now in the context of Ukraine. Ms. Ponga said that the war in Ukraine was a good example of the importance of endorsing the SSD in peace time, to be able to put in place the monitoring and reporting mechanisms and have effective structures and guidelines in place before a war. She also said that Hungary was particularly interested in the protection of higher education and the commitments for peacekeeping troops. Hungary is also committed to the continuity of education – currently providing EiE assistance to Ukrainian refugees. Lastly, we shared recommendations for the PoC debate and the upcoming EuA22 launch.

October 2022: On 25 October, we met with Ms. Magdolna Pongor, Second Secretary at the NY mission. She was very interested about the situation in Ukraine and how we report on attacks on education in the context of the conflict with Russia. She said that following Bede’s meeting in Budapest, the MoD no longer had concerns about endorsing the Declaration(!). All legal issues have been resolved. The reason for the delay in announcing endorsement appears to be caused by the conflict in Ukraine – they do not want to appear as taking sides and fear that endorsing now would send such a message. We suggested a high-level meeting between GCPEA and her capital. Overall, a very positive meeting.

November 2022: Endorsed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) on 18 November during an International Conference hosted by Ireland, the leader and penholder behind the Declaration.

February 2023: CEDAW called on Hungary to endorse the SSD.

February 2023: GCPEA met with the first Secretary at the OSCE delegation. She was familiar with GCPEA and the SSD. She didn’t have time to receive any update from her capital on their position on the SSD before our meeting. She was reserved and looked suspicious of civil society’s involvement, asking a lot of questions about how GCPEA is involved in the initiative. She didn’t seem supportive, but she would send a report back to her capital, which will be a good reminder to Budapest that we are waiting for them to endorse.

June 2023: On 7 June, Apolline met with Magdolna Pondor, First Secretary at the PM in New York. She explained again that following the meeting in capital (in which Bede represented us), the MoD did not have any issues with endorsement. The issue now is political. The government fears that announcing endorsement now would be sensitive due to the Ukraine/Russia conflict, it might be perceived as sending a political message. She recommended to have another Member State approach her government at higher political level to encourage endorsement and help alleviate some of the perceived fears. I suggested Norway, which she approved. Following the meeting, I reached out to the Norwegian PM in Geneva and suggested to have Norway approach Hungary during the upcoming NATO Summit, or any other upcoming forums where they might encounter their Hungarian counterparts. Norway is checking internally to set up a high-level bilateral meeting with Hungary at the NATO Summit.

May 2024:

• On 13 May, Ilaria met with Ms Zsofia CSIZMADIA, Second Secretary, Humanitarian Affairs and Migration at the Geneva PM (one of priority countries in our 2024 strategy). Zsofia has been following SSD since the beginning, doing internal advocacy to encourage endorsement. She knows GCPEA well. 
• Position hasn’t changed. Since the beginning it has been a rather high-level decision to stay away from the SSD (linked to Orban’s foreign policy and increasing proximity to Russia/tensions within EU&NATO, aggravated by the Ukraine war) 
• MoD was also resistant initially, but now is supportive, impact of their engagement in different SSD discussions, conferences …  
• MoFA is also supportive but cautious because of the high-level decision  
• The regular reporting from GVA to capital is helpful, especially to highlight new developments re. Endorsements and new arising opportunities  
• SSD is not present in EU level work in GVA, not part of discussions   
• Second half of 2024 Hungary will take up the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and so the ICRC conference will be under their presidency, big opportunity for advocacy, though very limited capacity of GVA permanent mission. They are not actively engaging or proposing side events. MoFA minister will come for the conference, but it will be hard to get a meeting, though we could try to explore. 
• Outcome of discussion: keep regular contact around advocacy opportunities and develop arguments that are based on the positive engagement from countries from the South that can help to pitch the SSD as a global tool, as opposed to a west/European one. 
• Action points: Share with Zsofia the link to list of endorsements + info about NATO Florence conference + keep her updated on 5th conference