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Hungary will not participate in arms transfers to Ukraine, but it will not prevent other EU Member States from doing so, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó.
The minister noted at a press conference following the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels that the first item on the agenda was the situation in Ukraine, and that he regretted that the Member States were still unwilling to abandon the failed strategy of the past, despite the fact that recent weeks had shown that it had failed. “This strategy has failed, there is no solution to this war on the battlefield, the more people die and the greater the destruction, the longer this war goes on,” he underlined.
He described the new proposal put forward by the European External Action Service to set up a EUR 5 billion envelope for arms supplies to Ukraine within the European Peace Facility for this year, with the possibility of extending it year by year, as disappointing.
Although he said it was a notch softer than the previous proposal,
the thinking has not changed and it would reaffirm the Community’s long-term commitment to the war.”
He also added that under this proposal, Hungary would receive a payment of HUF 23 billion (EUR 60 million). “It is totally unacceptable for Hungary to give a new impetus to arms transfers. Hungary has not supplied arms so far, will not supply arms in the future, and is not willing to participate in any decision that would lead to an increase in arms supplies,” he underlined.
He stressed that at the same time, the government cannot and will not prevent other Member States from supplying arms:
Today I took the position that Hungary will not participate in arms transfers; we will not prevent others from doing so, but at the same time we are not willing to bear any financial burden because of the arms transfers of others.”
“We will most certainly not spend another HUF 23 billion of Hungarian taxpayers’ money in a single year to send weapons to Ukraine that would prolong the war, prolong the suffering; more people would die, more destruction would be caused,” he concluded.
Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay