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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Luxembourg a series of new, in his words, “fanatical and massively pro-war and pro-Ukraine” initiatives proposed by the European Commission. These initiatives would involve sending more money, more weapons, and military advisors to Ukraine.
Following the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, the minister reported at a press conference that the EU plans to increase the value of military aid to Ukraine to €40 billion this year. As a first step, the EU wants to send two million rounds of ammunition, costing €5 billion. This funding is currently being “scraped together,” Szijjártó said, as it is only being collected on a voluntary basis. Thanks to Hungary’s earlier veto, the mechanism is not mandatory.
He added that the EU also wants to send military advisors to Kyiv as part of the mission established to train Ukrainian soldiers. “Hungary did not take part in this mission, and we made it a basic condition that such training programs can only take place outside Ukrainian territory,” he emphasized.
EU military trainers should not carry out training programs in Ukraine, as that poses a serious risk of escalating the war toward Europe.
This is a red line for us, and no element of this mission can take place within Ukraine.”
Szijjártó also mentioned that the EU is preparing its 17th sanctions package against Russia, which should be “very massive and very robust,” according to discussions. He said that Ukraine’s representative even demanded restrictions on purchases of Russian energy and on the nuclear industry. He criticized that several EU officials supported these ideas, pointing out that some had already tried to add several Russian ministers to the sanctions list last week.
“The EU is behind with a few brochures. Meanwhile, the Americans are engaged in direct negotiations with the Russians.
The U.S. and Russian presidents speak on the phone, their top envoys travel to each other’s capitals, and the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers are in contact. And yet we want to add Russian government members to the sanctions list,”
he pointed out. “Likewise, some want to limit the movement of Russian diplomats within the EU, while U.S.-Russia talks are ongoing about restoring the functioning conditions of their diplomatic missions,” he added.
Szijjártó stressed that several participants of the meeting wanted to open all chapters of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations this year. He said
one EU commissioner even proposed the “hair-raising” idea of fully integrating Ukraine into the EU economy before it officially becomes a member.
“So: more weapons, more money, pushing Ukraine into the EU, sending military advisors to Kyiv, and sanctioning energy purchases. This is the new fanatical, massive pro-war and pro-Ukraine initiative package announced today at the Council of Foreign Ministers,” he summarized.
The minister also said that virtually all other EU member states and Brussels are putting strong pressure on the Hungarian government to accelerate Ukraine’s accession. Szijjártó underlined that he “made it clear that only the Hungarian people can decide on this matter.” This is why the government is launching a ballot, this way the votes will summarize what the Hungarian people think. The public consultation is taking place during April and May. “I urge every Hungarian to express their opinion with an X about whether they support Ukraine’s EU membership or not,” he said.
Via MTI; Featured picture: Péter Szijjártó Facebook