FM Szijjártó: Ukraine endangers NATO, Polish foreign minister Hungarophobic, Kyiv conducting smear campaign
Brussels and Warsaw both want to amplify Ukraine’s “anti-Hungarian smear campaign” aimed at crippling the ongoing referendum on Kyiv’s accession to the European Union, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Antalya on Thursday.
Polish foreign minister Hunarophobic, says Szijjártó
Speaking after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Szijjártó said that his “Sorosist, Hungarophobic” Polish counterpart, whom he called “one of the most pro-war politicians in Europe”, had “parroted all the accusations we have heard these past few days and weeks as part of Ukraine’s smear campaign”.
“I, of course, firmly rejected the Polish foreign minister’s accusations, and made it clear that they were part of a smear campaign against Hungary,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.
“The anti-Hungarian propaganda in Ukraine keeps intensifying, and it’s clear that both Brussels and Warsaw want to amplify this anti-Hungarian smear campaign,” he said. “And it’s clear that their goal is to cripple the vote on Ukraine’s EU accession.”
He urged Hungarians to participate in the referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership “to prevent this decision from being made over our heads in Brussels, Warsaw or Kyiv”.
Defence spending
Szijjártó said that at today’s meeting held in preparation for next month’s NATO summit he and his counterparts debated at length a proposal for the alliance’s members to increase their defence spending to 5 percent of GDP.
He said that so far only 20 of the 32 NATO countries have complied with the obligation to spend 2 percent of GDP on defence, adding, however, that a new target was warranted, especially given that the alliance’s defence capabilities “have weakened significantly, with several member states handing a significant part of their weapons arsenal to Ukraine in recent years”.
Hungary has met its defence budget obligations every year since 2023, and spends 45 percent of it on developments, the fifth-largest share in NATO, Szijjártó said.
“So we Hungarians are prepared to take the steps needed to ensure Hungary’s and the alliance’s defence,” he added.
“Ukraine’s defence isn’t about … NATO’s defence”, Szijjártó said
Meanwhile, Szijjártó underscored the importance of clarifying that NATO is “not an offence, but rather a defence alliance”. “And when we talk about defence, it’s about or own defence, not an external player’s defence,” the minister added.
“Ukraine’s defence isn’t about … NATO’s defence,” he said. “Ukraine at this moment constitutes a danger.”
Szijjártó said that since a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia over Ukraine would lead to the outbreak of a third world war, it was time to strengthen the alliance’s “red lines” and make it clear that such an escalation must be avoided.
He said that with this in mind, it was “alarming” that several of his counterparts had urged sending more funds and weapons to Ukraine.
“Hungary is sticking to its policy of refusing to send weapons and money to Ukraine,” the minister said. “We will protect Hungary, and we don’t believe that financing a one million-strong army in our neighbour is in line with our security interests.”
“And it must also be made clear that Ukraine isn’t fighting for us, but for itself, regardless of how heroically it does so,” he said.
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