Hungary FM: No Message from US President to Hungary About Russian Oil Purchases

Contrary to reports circulating in the media, US President Donald Trump sent no message to Hungary calling for the termination of Russian crude oil purchases, nor was there any remotely similar message, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in Budapest on Monday. According to Peter Szijjarto, Hungary has been under pressure for years from those trying to drag the country into the war.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: AFP)

According to the ministry’s statement, Peter Szijjarto explained on the program Fighters' Hour that, contrary to reports in the media, President Donald Trump did not call on Hungary to stop buying Russian crude oil.

 Hungary did not receive any message from Donald Trump regarding Russian oil, says Peter Szijjarto. Illustration (Source: Anadolu via AFP)

Of course there was no such message, not even anything close,

he stated.

What we are talking about is that the pro-war Brusselites are trying to sever the last strands of Europe-Russia energy cooperation. The main loser in this is Europe. (…) Europe has started to weaken economically, one of the main reasons being that the model of European economic growth has been killed in recent years,

he warned.

He pointed out that there are two groups of European countries:  one consists of those European countries that condemn the Russians and condemn those who buy crude oil from the Russians, while secretly doing the same thing themselves through various Asian intermediaries; while the other consists of Hungary and Slovakia, which openly, not secretly, purchase Russian crude oil in the same way due to their existing infrastructure.

In this context, he highlighted that two oil pipelines reach Hungary: one from Russia and the other from Croatia. However, the Croatian pipeline has a smaller capacity than the combined needs of Hungary and Slovakia, meaning that it could not physically supply both countries.

Therefore, from the perspective of infrastructure and physical reality, Hungary can only operate securely in terms of energy supply if the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline is functioning. The pipeline from Croatia is an excellent auxiliary route, but in and of itself it lacks the capacity to supply Hungary and Slovakia,

he noted.

I don't think there are any political, moral, or legal principles that can be invoked to justify or accept making a third country the loser in a war between two other countries,

he added.

Peter Szijjarto also addressed the previous day’s report claiming that the Ukrainian army had once again attacked the Druzhba oil pipeline. According to him, this was not true, as the attack only targeted a so-called product pipeline between Russia and Belarus.

He then turned to the issue of possible further tightening of US sanctions against Russia, describing any step toward war escalation as bad news for Hungary, and any step toward peace as good news. Unfortunately, he added, there had been more of the former in recent days.

He criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for recently saying that the EU is planning to deploy peacekeepers in Ukraine. Peter Szijjarto stressed that she is not the leader of a United States of Europe, and that no common European army exists that she can "send here and there at will."

Von der Leyen (...) promises energy purchases to the US president, even though the European Commission cannot buy energy; she promises investments to the US president, though the Commission cannot carry out investments; she promises soldiers, though the EU has no army. In short, how should I put it, this is a complete imperial fantasy, which is extremely harmful to Europe,

he said.

The minister emphasized that admitting Ukraine into the EU would mean bringing the war into the European Union, which Hungary strongly opposes.

If, say, next year a Brussels puppet government is installed in Budapest (...) then of course it would go along with such a plan. It would agree to bring Ukraine into the European Union, to send soldiers, including Hungarians, to Ukraine, and would allow Hungary to drift into the war. If we are in government, this is clearly impossible,

he underscored.

Finally, he added that for years every possible means has been used in a bid to drag European countries, including Hungary, into this war.

 And that is why (...) it is extremely important what the outcome of next year’s parliamentary election will be, because we are here, right next to Ukraine. If the question is who is the easiest to drag into a war, then obviously geographical proximity matters, and therefore we must constantly fight against being pulled into the war,

he concluded.

Cover photo: Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: AFP)