Hungary has never expressed any objection to sanctions against Russia; neither has it blocked sanctions or any related proposals, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Saturday. Hungary, he added, wanted peace.
“That’s why … I’m negotiating with representatives of the Russian and Ukrainian governments for direct talks to begin in Budapest,” he said on Facebook, adding that he would turn to UN leaders in New York on Saturday for help in securing such an outcome.
“It is with regret and shock that I see certain representatives of international politics and the international press carrying on producing fake news and lying,” the minister said.
“I cannot get round my head how it’s possible for some to churn out fake news on a production line while people are dying amidst a war,” he said.
“Now they’re lying about Hungary blocking some of the sanctions against Russia, over the SWIFT system for example,” Szijjártó added.
“Let’s be clear: this is not true! We have never expressed any objection to sanctions against Russia; neither have we blocked sanctions or any related proposals.”
Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international communications and relations, also denied on Twitter “rumours” that Hungary was the only EU member state to oppose Russia’s exclusion from the SWIFT system, emphasising that Hungary was 100 percent in favour of common EU endeavours.
“We’re not doing less than what the EU’s position requires,” Kovács said, adding that it did not depend on Hungary whether more was done.
featured image via Foreign Minister Szijjártó’s Facebook page