Russia not seen as security threat in Hungary, says foreign minister in Brussels

Hungary does not consider Russia a direct security threat to its territory but understands and respects that other NATO member states think differently, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Tuesday after a two-day session of NATO foreign ministers.

As a committed NATO member, Hungary has always been loyal to its allies, Szijjarto told Hungarian journalists.

Hungary has contributed to NATO’s reinforcement actions on its eastern wing and will continue to help to boost the Baltic states’ “security and sense of security”, he said.

If Hungary is loyal to its allies, it can rightly expect them to follow suit if the rights of Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian community are “systematically and grossly violated”, Szijjártó said.

“Hungary will always take a stand for the rights of ethnic Hungarian communities, irrespective of their size,” the minister said.

Hungary cannot accept that ethnic minority issues are seen as bilateral affairs, as the obligation to respect national minorities forms part and parcel of international standards and several NATO documents, Szijjártó said.

Nor can Hungary accept any reference to Russian presence in Ukraine as an excuse for the violation of Hungarian minority rights, Szijjártó said. Transcarpathian Hungarians cannot be blamed for what is under way in eastern Ukraine, he added.