"The European Commission has not learned from its mistakes and refuses to face reality," Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó argued.Continue reading
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó criticized the EU and the Biden administration’s policies with regard to the war in Ukraine.
By blocking the channels of communication between the West and Russia, the world is giving up even the hope of peace in Ukraine, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó warned on Wednesday at a panel discussion at the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) in Washington, MTI reports.
The minister stressed that Hungarians do not need to explain to anyone what it is like to have a huge army marching through the country and hundreds of thousands of citizens forced to flee abroad.
“The historical lesson is that whenever there was a conflict between East and West, Central Europe always lost out on this,”
he added.
Szijjártó said that when the Hungarian government argued in favor of maintaining channels of communication, it was immediately labeled pro-Russian or an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He accused the European Union of completely mismanaging the Ukraine crisis. Szijjártó noted that in February, the EU said that sanctions would bring the Russians to their knees and help end the war quickly, but now it is November and the armed conflict is getting more brutal and the European economy is being wrecked.
Szijjártó was not in favor of Washington’s approach either; he said that the actions of the Biden administration are dangerous as they could contribute to an escalation of the situation.
He explained that Hungary remains interested in keeping the channels of communication open in the hope of peace, regardless of what anyone thinks, and that the government’s policy has no Ukrainian or Russian aspects, only the national interest matters. Finally, he condemned the “hypocrisy” of European politics, saying that several of his EU colleagues regularly express their support in private or by text message, but do not dare to do so openly for political reasons.
Featured photo via MTI/KKM