Hungary’s dependence on Russian gas a consequence of “West’s decision after WWII”

Hungary will not send soldiers or weapons to Ukraine, no matter who should request it, because the country does not want to be dragged into the war, the prime minister’s chief of staff said on Thursday.

In an interview with Mandiner published on Thursday, Gergely Gulyás said NATO could not make Hungary’s involvement in such an intervention mandatory. NATO member states are obligated to protect each other, “but as Ukraine is not a member of NATO, we have no such obligation”.

At the same time, Hungary has condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine together with its European Union peers, he said.

As the first safe country for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, Hungary is providing humanitarian aid to the nearly 500,000 people who have arrived so far, he said.

Gulyás said the Hungarian government’s policy to open towards Eastern markets did not “collapse” with the war. The policy was based “on the recognition that the East will determine the 21st century much more than the West,” which is in line with current forecasts of the world economy, he said.

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Hungary has created an investment-friendly environment and “we are happy to talk to anyone about investment”, he said, citing South Korea as an example, the largest investor in Hungary in 2019.