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)

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)