What matters most to Hungarians is staying out of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook on Thursday.
Szijjártó noted that the foreign ministers of NATO’s eastern flank are meeting in Bratislava during the day to discuss the war in Ukraine. “We stand by Ukraine and want peace as soon as possible,” he said.
“The most important thing for us Hungarians is staying out of this war,” Szijjártó said. “We will protect Hungary and the Hungarian people and will do everything we can to make sure that we are not dragged into the war. That is why we have decided not to send weapons or allow the transit of weapons deliveries across our country.”
Szijjártó said other central and eastern European countries had decided differently. “This is not our decision but theirs, so we respect it, but we also expect them to respect our decision,” the minister said.
He said Thursday’s meeting would also cover energy security, which he said was a key issue in all of Europe.
“We will by no means allow Hungarians to be made to pay the price of war, therefore we will not support sanctions on natural gas and crude oil supplies,” he said. “Fortunately we are not alone because several (mainly western European) countries are taking a sensible position on this issue.”
The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the Baltic states and Romania and Bulgaria.
featured image via Péter Szijjártó’s Facebook page
