The Széchenyi Prize-winning lawyer, scholar of international private law, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, who recently turned eighty, discussed in a portrait show dedicated to him whether Europe is currently in a search for its identity. He acknowledged that debates and divisions exist, but described them as a "natural phenomenon".

Martonyi pointed out that the decades-long process of building Europe inherently contains contradictions, necessitating a continuous and repeated clarification of "certain fundamental concepts and categories."

He underlined that national cohesion and identity fundamentally shape the lives of European peoples. Without these, European unity and identity simply cannot be achieved.

According to Martonyi, Europe is currently divided on this issue. However, the countries of Central Europe actively participate in shaping these processes and "perhaps at times, we better feel the significance of belonging to Europe."

He also considered the situation of Christianity and the Judeo-Christian heritage on the continent similar to that of national cohesion. This heritage is perhaps the most important factor of European identity in our region, considered highly important.

Martonyi stated unambiguously that a European unity, integration, or identity that sidelines national identity will certainly not emerge.

He considers it equally important in Hungarian national policy for the Hungarian nation to constitute a spiritual, intellectual, historic, and cultural community across state borders, emphasizing the essence of a sense of belonging.

Speaking of his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under the first and second Orbán governments, he revealed that after being asked by József Antall in 1991 to become a state secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was not surprised by the current Prime Minister's invitation in 1998 to head the ministry.

He described his first ministerial term between 1998 and 2002 as an offensive period in national policy. From 2010 to 2014, attention had to be paid to defensive tasks as well since "various criticisms against Hungary had already begun"; "explaining, illuminating, and defending Hungarian viewpoints was an important task."

Though he had no diplomatic background when he first received foreign affairs assignments in the early '90s, he had paid close attention to world politics and followed the Western press since his childhood.

Speaking of his early life, he shared how profoundly his father, a respected legal expert of his time, influenced him. "He gave me a worldview, explained the global political situation, the international context, but also the history of Hungary and its political changes," Martonyi said, adding that he learned the difference between democracy and dictatorship, and the significance of the Western world and Europe from his father.

On the importance of family, he highlighted that there are very important, fundamental principles in life that remain unchanged: "The essence is the family because everything is built on that."

He believed that if people can experience a sense of belonging to a family, then further communities can also be built, as, in his view, "the sense of belonging to a nation is inseparable from the feeling of belonging to a family."