Following the informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, the Hungarian foreign minster said that a wartime atmosphere continues to prevail among his colleagues, and it appears that decisions have been made in Brussels and in several member state capitals to drag the continent even deeper into the armed conflict while rushing Ukraine into the EU as quickly as possible, according to a statement from the ministry sent to MTI.
This is, of course, contrary to Europe’s interests, contrary to Hungary’s interests, and it seriously jeopardizes Europe’s future security,
he warned.
Both the continuation of the war and Ukraine’s fast-tracked EU membership come with a very high price. And this high price is to be paid primarily by us, Hungarians,
he continued. He added that for those who had doubts until now, the latest announcement from Brussels should serve as proof: they want to cut the energy cooperation between EU member states and Russia "forcibly, artificially, and on an ideological basis."
He emphasized that this decision by the European Commission seriously violates Hungary’s sovereignty, as every country has the sovereign right to decide where it buys its energy carriers from and through which routes it delivers them.
Now they want to take away this sovereign right of ours,
he said. Peter Szijjarto also pointed out that as a result, Hungary would have to pay about 1.5 billion euros more annually – approximately 600 billion forints – for energy carriers.
Let’s make clear: the danger for us is not the natural gas, oil, or nuclear fuel coming from Russia, but rather if these do not arrive in Hungary,
he highlighted, noting that this annual 600 billion forints in extra costs would practically destroy the utility cost reduction program.
The European Commission has launched a serious attack against the utility cost reduction scheme. It wants to force Hungary to raise utility costs for Hungarian families, for Hungarian people. And all this to provide senseless and unending support to Ukraine, so it can continue the war and be pushed into the European Union,
he said. The minister called this unacceptable and stressed that the government will not allow Hungarians to pay more for gas or electricity because of Ukraine.
We will prevent the European Commission from destroying the utility cost reduction scheme, and we insist that Hungarian people continue to pay the lowest utility prices in all of Europe. We will hold out, we won't give in,
he stressed.
This is clearly why Brussels wants a different government in Hungary because another government would not insist on national interests or on the achievements of utility cost reduction. Another government would happily and mindlessly support this decision from Brussels. We are not like that. We put national interest first, and we will not give up our sovereignty or the results of the utility cost reduction scheme,
he explained. Finally, he noted that he had consulted his Slovak counterpart, who also clearly expressed his strong objections to the proposal, so close coordination is expected between the two countries.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: Anadolu via AFP)
