Hungary FM: Being Pro-Ukraine Very Easy From Nice Offices in Brussels, Washington + Video

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto was asked about the outcome of the EU summit by Jan Balliauw, a reporter for the program Terzake on Belgium’s VRT TV. In the interview, the minister was also asked about his relationship with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Brüsszel, 2024. február 3. Lars Lokke Rasmussen dán külügyminiszter, Szijjártó Péter külgazdasági és külügyminiszter és Várhelyi Olivér, az Európai Bizottság bõvítésért és szomszédságpolitikáért felelõs tagja (elsõ sor, b-j) az Európai Unió informális külügyi tanácsülésének csoportképén a brüsszeli Egmont-palotában 2024. február 3-án, az uniós külügyminiszterek nem hivatalos tanácskozásai kezdetének 50. évfordulója alkalmából tartott ülésen. MTI/AP/Omar Havana Fotó: Omar Havana

"For us, two things were very important: firstly, to ensure that our money from the European Union is not sent to Ukraine [...] Secondly, that every year there is a kind of review mechanism to see how the Ukrainian side spends the money. So now the Commission will prepare a report annually, and based on the report the Council will issue guidelines," Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on the television program Terzake on Belgium’s public broadcaster VRT. In response to Jan Balliauw's remark that no proposal had been tabled that funds Hungary was entitled to should be given to Ukraine, the foreign minister pointed out,

if as a member state you do not receive the funds you are entitled to and there is a need to support an external partner financially, the a suspicion arises that the money you should receive but do not get might go to the third side. However, we have received guarantees that this will not happen.

Hungary firmly refuses arms supply to Ukraine

For Hungary, it was of utmost importance that "the European Union does not finance arms transfers with our involvement," Peter Szijjarto said. He added: "It is very clear now that the money we are now sending to the Ukrainians will be spent on running the state itself, covering social and other expenses, and not on arms supplies." The minister underlined that

we are one of the few EU countries that do not supply weapons to Ukraine and we have no plans to change this policy, and we will inist on not transfering arms in the future.

– A fegyverszállítás számunkra vörös vonal – szögezte le. Balliauw rákérdezett a magyar vétóra is, amelyre válaszolva Szijjártó Péter elmondta, „legutóbb nem vétóztunk, éltünk azzal a lehetőséggel, amelyet konstruktív tartózkodásnak hívnak, ami azt jelenti, hogy nem akadályozol másokat valaminek a megtételében, de te magad nem veszel részt benne”. A VRT TV munkatársa arra is kitért, Magyarországon nagy nyomás van.

"Supplying arms is a red line for us," he said. In response to Balliauw’s question about Hungary’s veto, Szijjarto highlighted that "last time we didn’t veto, we used the option called constructive abstention, which means that you don’t prevent others from doing something, but you don’t take part in it". The reporter went on to note that Hungary is under huge pressure.

Yes, but this has been the case for the last 14 years, it’s nothing new. Since we took office in 2010, we have been under pressure because we are not following the mainstream. We frequently take positions that don’t fall in line with the mainstream because we pursue our national interests,

the foreign minister explained.

Donald Tusk speaking of "Orban fatigue"

The reporter also touched on Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently striking a rather unfriendly tone towards Hungary and speaking of "Orban fatigue". "He sees us as enemies, and unfortunately this is no exaggeration. But you know, Hungary and Poland, Hungarians and Poles maintain brotherly relations, so we will not let Prime Minister Tusk ruin this relationship. We understand that this is his political position, fine... we can live with that," Peter Szijjarto replied.
 

Hungary's carrying out its largest humanitarian operation

On Monday, Peter Szijjarto visited Uzhhorod in Transcarpathia, where he held official talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office. The Belgian presenter raised the question why Prime Minister Viktor Orban had not yet met President Volodymyr Zelensky. The foreign minister highlighted that 

Hungary is carrying out the largest humanitarian operation in our history.

The country has taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees and their children are now attending classes in more than 1,500 kindergartens and schools in Hungary. "No one mentions that we have continuously been providing aid to more than 500,000 Ukrainian families not only in the western part of the country, but in a total of 20 counties across Ukraine," he said.

Lecturing us on how we should express solidarity with Ukraine is totally unwarranted and just about the last thing anyone needs to do, you understand,

he added.

On Szijjarto's relationship with Lavrov

"I always state my position very clearly, and I have also made our position very clear to Sergei Lavrov and to all our Russian colleagues: we condemn the war. The war is bad, it is bad for us, it is bad for Ukraine, it is bad for Europe, and we want it to stop," he reiterated, stressing that 

it's very easy to be pro-Ukrainian from these nice offices here in Brussels or in Washington, but I wonder how many would try it in Moscow. I was there  for the Russian Energy Week. While sitting in the hall with about a thousand participants including the deputy prime minister of Russia and the heads of the biggest energy companies in the country, I openly stated there, too, that we condemn the war, want it to end and that it is bad for us.

However, when it comes to ceasefire and negotiations, in Jan Balliauw's view that would mean that Russia would get twenty percent of Ukraine. "No, for us Hungarians, the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty is not up for discussion. We are committed to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. There can be no question that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and of all other countries must be respected,", Szijjarto replied. He recalled that he had paid his respects in a cemetery in Uzhhorod (Ungvar), Ukraine, and that as long as the war continues, the horrific death toll will continue to grow every day. "Therefore, I think that the most important thing is to end the war, stop the killing, and then we can start peace negotiations and reach a peace agreement that will ensure that the whole region will live in peace in the future."

"The government has long ago done its part"

At the end of the interview, the foreign minister was asked about the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership, and said that the government had long ago already done its part. Szijjarto highlighted that he, personally submitted to the National Assembly the proposal to ratify Sweden's accession, as "the government's position is to approve the proposal. But the fact is, many of our parliamentarians have been offended by Swedish politicians who criticize Hungary as not being a democratic country, or the parliament as not being a democratic institution, and call our elections undemocratic," he pointed.

I have made it clear to my Swedish colleagues that they should give assurances to these people who they are expecting to vote in their favor - that they will no longer be labelled anti-democratic because these accusations are unfair,

he added.

Finally, the FM stressed his hope for the procedure to be concluded soon and that he was confident that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson would visit Hungary, just as he had visited Turkey before the ratification.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto and European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Olivier Varhelyi (in front row, starting from left) at the group photo of the informal EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on February 3, 2024, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the start of the informal meetings of EU foreign ministers (Photo: MTI/AP/Omar Havana)