Hungarian Foreign Minister says Russia’s 2021 security proposals to end Hungary’s NATO membership acceptable? Ria Novosti interview and denial – VIDEO
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Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s comments to the Russian state media have caused a significant stir. According to RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency with close ties to the Hungarian government, Szijjártó suggested that Russia’s 2021 security proposals should have been negotiated by NATO, implying that Hungary’s NATO membership could have been reconsidered.
Máté Paczolay, spokesperson for the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded in an interview with Telex, following the report by RIA Novosti.
Paczolay firmly rejected this interpretation, clarifying the foreign minister’s remarks. His response came after Telex enquired about the RIA Novosti article, which quoted Szijjártó as stating that NATO should have engaged with Russia’s proposed security guarantees before the conflict escalated. Although Paczolay did not explicitly mention RIA Novosti, it was clear he was referring to the Russian outlet.
The controversy stems from an interview Szijjártó gave to the Russian news agency. In the interview, he stated that war might have been avoided if NATO had engaged with Russia’s draft 2021 agreement on security guarantees before the situation deteriorated. He commented:
“I remember those days well. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Nearly three years have passed since then, and perhaps it’s no longer relevant, but I do wish those discussions had taken place. If they had, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
At that time, Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed a deal to the United States, which included NATO rolling back its infrastructure to pre-1997 levels and ensuring Ukraine would never join the alliance. In return, Putin claimed he would refrain from invading Ukraine. If accepted, this proposal would have meant that Hungary, which joined NATO in 1999, would not have hosted NATO forces or weapons.
Marton Tompos and other opposition politicians are finally voicing strongly and very publicly the real truth about the Fidesz government. Fidesz works for Russia. These politicians have been bought by Putin and they are Russian agents.
Orbán Balázs was misunderstood, as well. Can´t all interviews just be scripted and reviewed before being made public, please? Like the Good Old Days?
It would allow 2 1/2 % of GDP to be spent in Hungary. NATO got involved in a foreign war of a non-member nation. NATO was created as a defense mechanism and Hungary joined because the country did not want to be attacked either by EU countries or Russia.
Hungary should leave EU and NATO.