His Excellency René Louis Roudaut, Ambassador of France, in Hungary paid an official visit to the Faculty of Humanities of Pázmány Péter Catholic University on 15th September 2010.

After an informal meeting at the Dean's Office, His Excellency gave a lecture officially opening the semester at the International Studies Department.

In his speech, His Excellency emphasized the difficulties in diplomacy, drawing attention especially to the international order that has changed since WW2. 'Beyond states with their clear priorities, the importance of supra- and intra-national actors, NGOs has considerably grown, so we have to define these relations in a completely different framework' His Excellency explained. 'Due to complex interests and varied priorities, the influence of the media and internet, it became more difficult to remain detached and appraise events objectively,' claimed His Excellency in His speech by mentioning minority issues and critics against France's recent regulations.

His Excellency also highlighted the current problems of health care, demography, climate change and energy resources. To solve these, His Excellency considered cooperation between countries to be the most important aspect, however, we also need to reconsider the repartition of geopolitical and economic strength in the world. In addition, beyond the nuclear issue and conflicts in the Middle East, we have to take into account the BRIC countries' growing power, thus Brasil, Russia, India and China as well.

Furthermore, His Excellency heightened three factors, which we can consider as the main challenges of international relations. First, the difficulty of building up a real, regular and fair international system, and sustain the credibility and strength of international organisations, like the UN and its main bodies. Secondly, the reforming of the economic, financial systems and governments in order to restrain corruption and involve developing countries in decision-making as well.

Finally, His Excellency emphasized the importance of integrations, the role of France in the EU and its commitment towards the common interests of the other member states as well. However, His Excelency was hopeful about future regional or even global cooperation, He draw attention to the need for both economic and political strength in order to mitigate or overcome the difficulties.