Hungary FM Points Out Why Brussels Ignores Kyiv’s Corruption

The European Commission does not hold Ukraine accountable for corruption because, clearly, the same issues are taking place in Brussels as in Kyiv, Hungary's foreign minister emphasized in Brussels on Wednesday.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: AFP)

According to a ministry statement, Mr. Szijjarto addressed allegations of procurement fraud and corruption involving the EU’s former High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, in response to journalists’ questions following a NATO Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

Szijjártó Péter a Federica Mogherinivel szembeni közbeszerzési csalási és korrupciós vádakról beszélt (Fotó: AFP)

I already found it strange at the last foreign ministers’ council meeting that no one mentioned the massive corruption scandal unfolding in Ukraine. No one has demanded accountability from the Ukrainians for hundreds of billions of euros in EU support, even after it became clear that corruption is organized at the highest levels of government in Ukraine. European taxpayers’ euros ended up in the hands of a war-time mafia,

– he recalled.

I think it is now clear why Brussels does not demand accountability from Kyiv. It is because exactly the same thing is happening in Brussels as in Kyiv. Massive corruption is occurring here as well,

– he continued.

"Just now, another skeleton fell out of the closet, as the EU’s former High Representative, the Vice-President of the Juncker Commission, was arrested on corruption charges, and similarly, the former Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs of the Von der Leyen Commission was also detained for the same reason—suspected misuse of EU funds—after a house search was carried out at the former justice commissioner of the Von der Leyen Commission for money laundering,” Mr. Szijjarto added, emphasising that the same huge corruption scandal is unfolding in Brussels as in Kyiv.

Clearly, Brussels does not want to make a big fuss about the Ukrainian corruption network because a similar corrupt network also runs through Brussels itself, and they do not want to expose it to sunlight,

– FM Szijjarto summarized.

On Wednesday, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Federica Mogherini and two other individuals for procurement fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest, and breaches of official secrecy.

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