The foreign minister said decisions by Ukraine infringing on the rights of its Hungarian national minority will make it more difficult for Hungary to make the sacrifices necessary to support the country in the coming period.
“It seems that despite the start of a new year, the warlike attitude isn’t changing and the same warlike atmosphere persists,” Péter Szijjártó told a press conference during a break in a meeting with his European Union counterparts. He cited, as an example, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s proposal for the bloc to provide another 500 million euros to finance the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine and contribute 45 million euros to a training mission for Ukrainian troops. “Our position is obvious: there must be peace as soon as possible,” Szijjártó said. The farther away a country is located geographically from Ukraine, the less direct an effect the war will have on it, and it will have less of a commitment to achieving peace as soon as possible, the minister said. Every decision that may lead to prolonging or escalating the war is against Hungary’s interests, Szijjártó said. “That’s why we do not consider it a good idea to step up weapons deliveries while at the same time we’re not blocking the European Union from carrying out such decisions,” he added. The minister also touched on the issue of “concentrated and severe attacks” against the ethnic Hungarian community in Ukraine.
Szijjártó condemned the firing of ethnic Hungarian school headmasters and teachers without justification and the requirement set for institutions to take down Hungarian national symbols. “All of these are signs of a severe and concentrated anti-Hungarian attack,” he said. “All of this is unacceptable and not only we Hungarians but the European Union should also act against it. It is unacceptable for anyone to interpret this as a bilateral issue,” he said.