Government: Hungary will not veto ‘Eastern sanctions’

Hungary will not veto European Union sanctions related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday, adding that the country stands by and takes part in shaping the European Union’s common stance.

Speaking from the Liszt Ferenc International Airport before visiting Egypt and Bahrein as head of a delegation of 70 Hungarian companies, Szijjártó said the past few days had brought developments in the conflict that were contrary to the security interests of “Hungary, central Europe, and indeed the whole of Europe”.

In a video posted on Facebook, the minister said that

Hungary firmly backed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty “as we always have, and we will not break ranks regarding the [EU] response…”

Szijjártó said that central Europe and Hungary had a vested interest in maintaining peace and avoiding war.

The deteriorating security situation, he added, had brought about “a serious disinformation and fake news campaign … and, in that regard, Western news media are barely better than their Eastern counterparts.” He insisted Hungary’s stance had been misrepresented in both.

Despite all reports to the contrary in eastern and western outlets, Hungary shared the EU’s stance, he said.

The permanent representatives of member states to the EU held a meeting on Tuesday, alongside an informal meeting of the foreign affairs council, Szijjártó said. The EU ambassadors will meet again later on Wednesday to finalise the sanctions the EU is imposing in response to the developments in eastern Europe in the past few days, he said.