"Hungary's position is clear: we support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and will not break the unity of Europe, as we never did," Foreign Minister Szijjártó said.Continue reading
“We don’t expect anyone to fight for us, but with the right weapons, it will certainly be easier for us to resist,” the Ukrainian ambassador to Budapest said in an interview with Azonnali. According to Nepop Liubov, Russia wants to succeed the Soviet Union by controlling the countries of the post-socialist camp and dictating the terms of the world order. “Ukraine’s role is also clear: it must resist Russian aggression, defend itself and defend its right not to be part of this renewed empire. (The interview was conducted on February 21, so the portal could not yet comment on developments since then, including Russia’s recognition of the breakaway territories).
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
According to the ambassador, more and more Western countries are realizing that Ukraine is defending not only its own territory in this war but all of Europe as a bulwark of Western values. “And more and more politicians have started to call a spade a spade: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim,” Nepop Liubov told Azonnali.
She emphasized that
It was not Ukraine that started this war, but we had to choose between defending our country or giving up our statehood and our future. We chose to fight. Perhaps some in Europe today would like to stay out of the conflict, but this option is not available at all.”
Nepop Liubov said that Hungary is and will remain important as a neighboring country for Ukraine, recalling that before the coronavirus epidemic, Hungary took in wounded soldiers for medical treatment and children affected by the fighters against Russian aggression for resettlement.
Ukraine has now also submitted to the Hungarian side a list of needs to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities. The list includes:
“We understand that every country has different possibilities, and we hope that Hungary will find the possibility to provide this kind of help. We say here the same thing we say to all our partners – we don’t expect anyone to fight for us, but with the right weapons, it will be easier to resist. And it is much more pragmatic to help defend Ukraine now than to put yourself in a situation where you will have to defend yourself later,” the Ukrainian ambassador said.
The ambassador also said that they clearly reject opinions that Ukraine should be a “buffer zone” between East and West. “We are not in the middle, we are an integral part of the West,” he added. If Ukraine had been a member of NATO in 2014, the Kremlin would never have dared to attack it, and the whole world would not be in the current situation because of the Russian Federation’s aggressive actions. “Therefore, Ukraine’s NATO membership is a security guarantee not only for Ukraine but also for the West.”
Source: Azonnali
Featured image: Ukrainian soldiers take part in a commemoration ceremony in Odessa on National Unity Day, February 16, 2022. Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP/MTI
