World order and the Ukraine conflict were the subjects that dominated the first debate at the Summer University in Baile Tusnad, Harghita County, where Hungarian senior politicians and Romanian policy-makers of Hungarian ethnicity examined the position of the United States of America, the rise of China and current geopolitical realities.

Chairman of the Hungarian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Zsolt Németh declared in the opening of the event that 'regrettably' U.S. President Donald Trump 'has failed' in his bid to bring a quick end to the war in Ukraine; also, speaking of the American tariff policy, he pointed out that 'the Trump hurricane leaves no corner of the world untouched.'

Zsolt Németh went on to remark that the Ukraine war, which has been dragging on for far too long, will unfortunately continue, and the tensions between the U.S. and Russia will leave their mark on all countries and all international factors.

Returning to the subject at the first debate of the event, titled 'The change of the world system has begun!', the Hungarian official stressed that the rise of China is the most relevant factor in reshaping the global order, arguing that 'China is a provocateur in waiting' and 'if a major agreement, is reached, then China will be a second superpower, a kind of co-author of peace.'

Nemeth brought up the strategy of the Budapest government regarding the conflict in Ukraine, arguing that it is very close to the American approach and it also enjoys support by circles in Ukraine.

He voiced his belief that the strategy developed by the Budapest government, specifically: ceasefire, stopping the bloodshed and having diplomacy decide how we will move forward, is the correct way to act, is very close to the American approach, and is also shared in increasingly wide circles, including in Ukraine. The logic is: the first step is a ceasefire, the second step - peace negotiations, and we hope that this will be widely accepted by all parties, said the Budapest official, according to the official translation.

Chamber floor leader of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Csoma Botond also participated in the debate, agreeing that the United States continues to have a defining role in world politics, yet is no longer as powerful as 20-30 years ago, immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

He pointed out that successive crises - the conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Arab Spring - have demonstrated the limits of a foreign policy based on the export of democracy, which he described as 'an experiment that ended in failure'.

In his opinion, 'the provocateur by definition is not Russia, but China', which is developing rapidly technology and military-wise, having, alongside the U.S., a defining role in the world. He argued that the U.S. Democrats and Republicans are on the same page as to the imposition of tariffs to slow down the rise of China.

The UDMR leader referred, in his turn, to the statements of President Donald Trump in the fall of 2024, when he said that he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine 'in just one day', pointing out that this statement turned out to be no more than a campaign slogan, as reality proved otherwise.

Csoma Botond admitted that reaching a consensus with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin is a difficult endeavor, and that the Trump administration has turned around and sat down at the diplomatic table, but the only certain conclusion so far is that there are no certainties.

After Trump took office, he gave the impression that he was willing to bring peace to Ukraine by accepting all of Russia's demands, and now we know very well what is happening. He is threatening tariffs on all countries that buy Russian crude. My opinion is that the peace won't happen very fast because the Russians, as far as I understand, have not yet given up on their demand that Ukraine remains just a puppet country. So, my opinion is that there is no unipolar, bipolar or multipolar world, but a situation in between, where the agent provocateur for America is China, said Csoma Botond, according to the translation provided by the organizers.

The 34th edition of the Summer University in the Baile Tusnad spa resort runs until Sunday, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expected to deliver his usual speech on Saturday.

The motto of this year's event is 'You can count on us!', which, according to the organizers, is intended to send out a message of encouragement in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical and economic context. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Gina Stefan; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)