European Institute of Peace

At the initial stage, eight countries, including Hungary, participate in the establishment and start of operation of the European Institute of Peace, based in Brussels. The new organization aims to contribute to the prevention of conflicts and the handling of crises emerging on the continent and other regions.

This Monday, the political director of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Szabolcs Takács, attended the meeting for the election of the leaders of the board of governors of the new institution in Brussels.

He told the Hungarian news agency MTI that the initiative for the creation of the Institute was made about two years ago by Sweden and Finland with Hungary and Poland soon joining in. In addition to these four countries, it is so far, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, and the non-EU member Switzerland that participate in the creation of the peace institute. Spain is represented as an observer.

The European Institute of Peace will be an intergovernmental body independent of the European Union but one that cooperates with EU institutions, Szabolcs Takács explained the organization's status that comes about as a public foundation created under Belgian law. The institute aims to actively to contribute to crises and conflict prevention by providing  European diplomatic expertise, knowledge and relationships.