He said that "to ensure the peace and security of Hungary it is necessary that the country should not send troops or weapons to the war and neither should it allow the transit of weapons across its territory to Ukraine".Continue reading
On the occasion of the National Holiday of Hungary, both Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister drew the parallel between the 1848/49 Revolution and the ongoing war in Ukraine as the Russian army was involved in both. FM Dmytro Kuleba was critical with the Hungarian government’s policies and attitude towards the war in Ukraine, and said that Foreign Minister Szijjártó may have forgotten about the Russian army’s earlier activities in Hungary.
“Reading my colleague Péter Szijjártó’s statements, we are coming to doubt whether he remembers the 1848-49 revolution when the Russian army crushed the Hungarian fight for freedom, or 1956, when Soviet tanks trampled on freedom on the streets of Budapest and Hungarians were asking for the West’s help in vain,” Kuleba commented on the Hungarian Foreign Minister’s recent remarks. He may have referred to Hungary refusing to participate in arms and personnel transfer to Ukraine. In addition, the Hungarian PM recently refused to travel to Kiev to meet Ukrainian president Zelensky, unlike his Slovenian, Polish, and Czech counterparts, and when Szijjártó was asked about the reason, he said that to ensure the peace and security of Hungary it is necessary that the country should not send troops or weapons to the war and neither should it allow the transit of weapons across its territory to Ukraine.
Kuleba further explained that “caring about the security of Hungary’s citizens does not mean that one can turn a blind eye to the murder of Ukrainian citizens. I call on the Hungarian authorities to take a clear stand by Ukraine’s side and provide all necessary support,” Kuleba said, once again warning that Russia won’t stop at Ukraine. He says this can be concluded from Russia’s attack on Yavoriv’s (close to the Polish border) NATO-Ukraine training base on Sunday, in which 35 people were killed.
Ukrainians today are defending not only their own state, but NATO’s entire eastern wing, including Hungary,”
he said and concluded by making a reference to Hungarian freedom fighter and politician of the 1848/89 revolution, Lajos Kossuth, who said that:
‘…freedom belongs to everyone.’ I think he would stand firmly by Ukraine today.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary, Lyubov Nepop, also didn’t forget to draw attention to the similarities between the ongoing war and the 1848/49 revolution (which the Austrian Empire could only win with the Russian army’s intervention) in her greetings made on the occasion of March 15.
I hope that when you look up at the peaceful Hungarian sky, you will think of the Ukrainians who were killed in the Russian war and are now looking down on us from heaven. Remember those who are afraid to look at the sky, because Russian bombs and missiles may fall from there. I hope that you will say yes to the airspace closure over Ukraine to protect our cities and our citizens,”
she said, recalling that Hungary’s national holiday this year falls on the 20th day of the Russian invasion against Ukraine, and “therefore today all the thoughts and efforts of the Ukrainians are focusing on the defense of their homeland.”
Consequently, Nepop asked Hungarians for their sympathy on the occasion of the national holiday. She noted that the Russian army had also crushed the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence in blood. Finally, she thanked “free Hungarian people” for the support they have shown until now and wished them a pleasant celebration.
Nepop likewise cited Kossuth by saying: “A just man wishes freedom for everyone. An unjust man wishes freedom only for himself.”
featured image: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba; via Tamás Kovács/MTI
