Latvian Defence Minister calls Hungary a traitor, Hungarian counterpart reacts
In an interview a few days ago, the Latvian Defence Minister described Hungary’s refusal to help Ukraine as a betrayal. The Hungarian defence minister disagrees, and expressed his indignation on social media.
“I refuse to allow anyone to condemn or threaten Hungary. We have the right to represent our national interest, peace!”, wrote Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on his official Facebook page the other day, as a reaction to the Latvian Defence Minister’s statement.
Latvian Defence Minister: Hungary betrays Ukraine
Artis Pabriks, Latvia’s Defence Minister, recently gave an interview to Radio Free Europe’s Russian-language Current Time programme, in which he sharply criticised Bulgaria and Hungary for refusing to provide military aid to Ukraine, Index reports.
“The positions of Bulgaria and Hungary on the denial of military assistance to Ukraine are incomprehensible and border on treason,” the Latvian defence minister said. In the interview, Artis Pabriks also said that Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but also for Europe, democracy and human rights. If someone does not understand this, it means that they are against the interests of Ukraine and Latvia.
If someone is a member of the European Union and NATO and goes against the interests of my country, what else is it but treason? the Defence Minister added.
The Hungarian Defence Minister’s reaction
The Hungarian Defence Minister expressed his outrage on social media after the statement of his Latvian colleague. Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky flatly refused to let anyone condemn or threaten Hungary. “I respectfully recommend my colleague Artis Pabriks to look up at the sky instead. The Hungarian Air Force is responsible for the air policing of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the NATO bloc,” said the Hungarian Defence Minister on his official Facebook page.
Hungarian Defence Forces above the Baltic airspace
As we reported, four Gripen fighter jets of the Hungarian Defence Forces will guard the Baltic airspace with a total of fifty Hungarian soldiers from 1 August to the end of November. The joint permanent mission of NATO member states has the dual aim of increasing the sense of security of the people living in the countries of the region (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and of improving the cooperation capabilities of allied and partner forces, Index writes.
Source: Index.hu, DNH