Hungary resisted pressure, ‘won’t join those who want to continue war’, FM Szijjártó says
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The political declaration adopted by 26 member states at Thursday’s special European Union summit “has no legal significance”, Hungary’s foreign minister has said.
Speaking to public radio on Sunday, Péter Szijjártó noted that EU decisions on foreign and security policy require unanimous approval from all 27 member states. “We didn’t give in to pressure, we refuse to join those who want to continue the war,” he said. “The fact that 26 member states issued a political declaration … is a political opinion. We already knew that most member states would follow Brussels and vote for the war, but as part of the global majority, we took a stand for peace.”
Szijjártó said Europe’s policy on the war over the last three years had failed, arguing that the bloc had “ruined its own competitiveness” by imposing sanctions on Russia. Also, he said, the weapons and money the EU had given Ukraine had ended up prolonging the conflict “with the reality on the battlefield not favouring Ukraine”.
3 years of failure
“This is three years of failure and it’s time Europe finally ditched its policy supporting the continuation of the war,” Szijjártó said. “We are in favour of peace, as it was also made clear by our veto at the special European Council summit.”
The minister said Europe had “dealt itself a blow” financially and economically over the last three years, and would now have to maintain Ukraine’s one-million strong army and the Ukrainian state, which Kyiv was incapable of doing. The EU, he added, would also have to rebuild its own competitiveness, and fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc would “put tremendous pressure” on the bloc.
Szijjártó said the EU could not even meet these objectives “if it were in its best-ever shape”, but now that it was “in the worst shape it’s ever been in”, it was impossible to set those as “realistic goals”.
Can somebody please explain to me why our Politicians still state You-Know-Who does not pose a threat, while all of Europe is massively increasing defense spending? And our Politicians are backing this spend in the European context. No veto.
Should Hungary ever be invaded it deserves the same treatment that it has given to Ukraine. No assistance in the name of peace.