Hungary draws red line: firmly opposes sending EU military advisers to Ukraine

Hungary stands firmly against “the extremely dangerous proposal” to send EU military advisers to Ukraine, Péter Szijjártó said on Monday in Luxembourg.

Not to help Ukraine

This is a Hungarian red line, he told a press conference after a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, adding that pressure to expand the mandate of the EU military training mission in Ukraine was strong.

“When the European Union started training Ukrainian soldiers, we constructively abstained, signalling our disagreement,” he said, arguing the plan was “dangerous” in view of the risk of escalation and deepening the conflict between the EU and Russia. He noted that Hungary had not prevented others doing so, however.

“But now they are calling for the European Union to delegate military advisers to Kyiv as part of this operation. Well, this goes beyond [our] red lines,” he said.

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Now is the time for a pro-peace outlook to replace pro-war policy

The time has come to pursue a pro-peace policy instead of a pro-war approach, now that there is a general recognition in Brussels that Ukraine is beset by problems such as the risk of further escalation, the approaching winter and sanctions evasions, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, told a press conference after a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday.

Szijjártó said much of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure had been destroyed as winter approached, more and more European companies were evading sanctions with the help of third countries, and fighting on the frontline was intensifying.

He said the pro-war approach had been tried for “a thousand days” and had failed, and now the pro-peace approach should be given a chance to succeed.

Brussels, meanwhile, wanted additional weapons shipments and new punitive measures. It even advocated using Western weapons against targets in Russia, he added.

Szijjártó decried those who saw champions of peace as a threat.

“Some argue that starting peace negotiations now would not be good when Ukraine is not doing well. Well, if Ukraine isn’t doing well, doesn’t this prove what we [advocate]?”

Meanwhile, asked about recent remarks made by Donald Trump concerning risk of escalation in Ukraine, he said the former president had been “absolutely right” that a confrontation between NATO and Russia was “growing every hour and minute of the day”.

A third world war, he added, could be prevented if the war in Ukraine was brought to an end. “That’s why we’re waiting until the American presidential election in a few weeks, because we think that the victory” of Trump would result in “change in international political life that will bring with it a greater hope for peace than ever before,” he said.

The minister added that in the absence of a new Trump administration, “we would have to prepare for a very difficult period in Europe and in central Europe. ”

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said the Friends of Peace international group established within the United Nations had drawn heavy criticism at the meeting, but Hungary continued to strongly back the initiative.

“I had expected there would be ad-hominem criticism,” he said, noting that Hungary was not the only EU member state to have attended the inaugural meeting in New York as France had also participated. “The French needed courage for this, and it’s apparent that more people couldn’t muster it up”.

Afterwards, criticism of Friends of Peace broadened and some even favoured attacking the group. However, he said Hungary still strongly supported its establishment at the UN and was ready to participate in its joint work.

He said the group’s statement backing territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the UN Charter “should be respected” and that it righted the criticisms that “our European friends have previously cataloged.”

Szijjártó also said pressure had again mounted to pay six billion euros from the European Peace Framework to EU member states supplying weapons to Ukraine, and Hungary strongly opposed the move.

But he welcomed a proposal by the EU’s foreign policy chief to make this voluntary, saying that Hungary has long argued that no one should be forced into an initiative they do not wish to participate in.

The minister said he had signalled Hungary’s support for the transition to voluntary funds. He added that Hungary could no longer be blamed for any lack of payments from the European Peace Framework.

As we wrote today, the Hungarian foreign minister condemned Kamala Harris for labeling Orbán an autocratic dictator. Details are HERE.