Minister: There is a one-dimensional picture of Hungarian opinion in Brussels

The political mainstream in Brussels has a “one-dimensional and simplistic view” of Hungary’s position on the war in Ukraine, Csaba Dömötör, a state secretary of the prime minister’s cabinet office, said in Brussels on Tuesday.

Hungary has condemned Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine from the start and provides all the help it can to the refugees fleeing Ukraine, Dömötör told MTI after attending a conference organised by the Brussels office of the Foundation for a Civic Hungary.

At the same time, Hungary opposes steps that would escalate the war, he said, noting that the country does not support weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

“We are also sceptical of sanctions against Russia that primarily place great burdens on European citizens,” Dömötör added.

Though the political mainstream in Brussels insists that Hungary is isolated in its position on the war, surveys across Europe indicate that the majority of European citizens share the Hungarian government’s views, Dömötör said.

European citizens, for example, do not believe that a complete ban on energy imports would be a viable solution, because they are seeing that they are primarily the ones who have to pay the price of such a measure, he said. Also, most people in the central and eastern European region do not support weapons deliveries to Ukraine, he added.

The Hungarian government is not alone in the position it represents, but “Brussels bureaucrats” have failed to ask their own citizens what they thought about these important issues, he said.

The Hungarian government, on the other hand, regularly seeks the opinion of Hungarian citizens, Dömötör said, adding that the outcome of last year’s general election also showed that Hungarians wanted peace.