Ukraine

FM Szijjártó: NATO in state of ‘war psychosis’

szijjártó brussels nato

“NATO is in a state of war psychosis, which poses a serious risk of escalation,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Thursday, adding that NATO should switch its strategy.

“All that was said in the meeting reflected that peace is needed as soon as possible; the situation on the battlefield clearly shows that the number of casualties and destruction will dramatically increase without a rapid diplomatic settlement,” the foreign ministry quoted Szijjártó as saying after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

“Operations on the battlefield are clearly intensifying, with ever more serious consequences; all efforts should now focus on establishing peace in order to save lives and prevent further destruction,” the minister said. It was “bad news”, he added, that his position was “in minority within NATO”.

He quoted a participant in the meeting as saying that “the goal is not to achieve peace but to win the war.” “NATO is more or less characterised by that kind of war psychosis … most spoke today about how to increase weapons shipments to Ukraine,” he added.

Szijjártó said putting together such shipments was becoming more and more problematic, partly because many NATO member states “have already contributed nearly all the ammunitions in their reserves.” He noted that currently Hungary and the Czech Republic provide air policing in Slovakia because “Bratislava has given all their aircraft to Kyiv and they have not received new ones yet”.

It was also suggested that “warehouses should be emptied and all equipment handed over to Ukraine… Desperate remarks like that clearly show that mounting difficulties are an obstacle to arms shipments,” Szijjártó said. Those difficulties “are not just physical, not least because few weapons are left, but also because sending arms has proven futile in terms of the original goals,” he said.

“So far we have heard from the countries sending arms that those weapons would help Ukraine to battlefield victories … but this is not happening,” he said.

Hungary opposes boosting NATO’s coordination role in sending arms to Ukraine and training Ukrainian soldiers, “and will not participate in planning or in the activities themselves; neither will it contribute to financing,” Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó: NATO must strengthen counter-terrorism

NATO must strengthen its counter-terrorism activities with a view to ensuring unimpeded East-West trade, Szijjártó said, adding that European economic interests depended on smooth trade.

“The challenge posed by global terrorism is becoming ever more serious,” he told a press conference after a meeting of the NATO Council of Foreign Ministers, adding that terrorism threatened global security and trade, as well as East-West relations.

Hungary, he said, did not want a world “divided into blocs again”, and East-West cooperation should be as dense as possible. But connections that are key for Hungary and the Hungarian economy “are seriously threatened by terrorism in the Red Sea”, he added.

Referring to Houthi rebels operating off the shores of Yemen, Szijjártó said the terrorist organisation must not be allowed to cause “serious economic problems” for European businesses “after the economic shocks caused by the coronavirus and the war in Ukraine”.

Noting that cooperation with the Pacific region was among the topics of discussions at the meeting with representatives from Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, he said Hungary maintained close economic cooperation with countries of the Far East. Investments from the region “contribute significantly to the growth of the Hungarian economy, so for us the smoothness of East-West trade is a key issue. So we stand for strengthening NATO’s counter-terrorism stance,” the minister concluded.

Szijjártó: Hungary-Ukraine education team ‘fails to bring positions closer’

The education working group set up by the Hungarian and Ukrainian governments “has met once again but failed to bring positions closer,” the foreign minister said on Thursday, adding that Hungary “insists that the rights Ukraine’s Hungarian minority should be fully restored.”

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, Szijjártó said “the serious issue with Kyiv concerning the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia is still unresolved.”

“We insist that Ukraine restore rights to the Hungarian community that they had nine years ago, guaranteeing … the preservation of their Hungarian identity,” Szijjártó said, adding that they should be able use their mother tongue in educational and cultural settings, as well as in public administration and the media.

“We cannot accept less. Our Ukrainian partners are aware of that, even if they sometimes pretend not to be,” Szijjártó said, adding that the Hungarian government had consistently promoted its position in the past nine years.

The minister said it was “good news”, however, that the Hungary-Ukraine working group will resume meeting next week, with leaders of the two sides also meeting personally, which could “hopefully bring us closer to the reversal of the curbing of those rights… For now it still seems far away, but the fact of talks being held at all should be considered good news.”

The minister said that when NATO evaluates Ukraine’s progress, Hungary would “pay great attention to these aspects”. “When evaluating Ukraine’s performance we cannot overlook the fact that the Hungarian ethnic community in Transcarpathia has not yet been granted the rights it was earlier stripped of… Our allies must be aware of that. Hungary will insist at every international forum that the Trancarpathian community gets those rights back,” he said.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said protests and blockades staged by Polish farmers had rendered trade across the Ukraine-Poland border “practically impossible”, resulting in “pressure greater than ever” on Hungary’s border with Ukraine.

“This creates unfair conditions: trucks leaving Ukraine often have to wait 14-16 days before crossing, which poses a serious … difficulties for the Hungarian economy, as many Hungarian companies are dependent on trade between Hungary and Ukraine,” he said, calling for a reducion of waiting times. “I want to firmly state that [Hungary] is not importing agricultural produce; Hungary is maintaining its ban on Ukrainian grain … since protecting the interests of Hungarian farmers is a priority,” he said.

Hungary’s ambassador to Ukraine will sign an agreement next Monday on opening a new crossing station between Nagyhodos in Hungary and Velyka Palad (Nagypalad) in Ukraine, Szijjártó said, adding that local Hungarians in Ukraine had a long-standing request for such a facility. Moreover, unloaded trucks will be given an opportunity to cross at Beregsurany, which will “reduce the problems of Hungarian companies relying on imports from Ukraine,” he added.

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Hungary and Ukraine to sign border traffic agreement

szijjártó brussels ukraine border traffic agreement

Hungary and Ukraine is expected to sign a border traffic agreement on Monday, paving the way to opening a new crossing between the two countries, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

New border crossing with Ukraine on the horizon?

Noting a meeting in Uzhorod (Ungvar) earlier this year, and the decision to set up a working group “to find a way to restore all rights of the Hungarian community they have been stripped of since 2015,” Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that “we sat down, virtually, in Budapest, Kyiv, Brussels and Uzhorod on Thursday to continue the work we started.”

He said that at the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba, and presidential office head Andriy Yirmak in January, “we put our expectations down in an 11-point list of steps necessary for . restoring the Hungarian ethnic community’s rights connected to preserving their identity and use of the mother tongue.”.

The border traffic agreement expanding capacity at the existing crossings and opening a new one “will provide a good baseline of trust” for that process, he added.

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Orbán cabinet takes further steps to rebuild trust with Ukraine

Hungarian government rebuilding trust with Ukraine

The Hungarian government has taken further steps in recent weeks “so that we can again talk about mutual trust in Hungary-Ukraine relations,” the foreign minister said on Facebook late on Wednesday.

Péter Szijjártó mentioned, for example, changes to the interstate agreement on border crossing, adding that the changes would help eliminate “unfair” situations at the border between the two countries. “We are looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting of the Hungarian-Ukrainian education team with hope, since the most important task is to restore the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia to education and the use of their mother tongue,” the minister said.

Referring to an infrastructure development project at Fenyeslitke crossing station, Szijjártó said it would facilitate reloading an annual one million containers or three million tonnes of grain and cooking oil, which could “contribute to maintaining Ukraine’s exports to Europe”.

Hungarian government rebuilding trust with Ukraine
Photo: FB/Szijjártó

In another Facebook entry Szijjártó mentioned Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, and said “we have set the goal to give new momentum to the cooperation between Hungary and Canada”. He noted Hungary’s upcoming European Union presidency and that Canada would be the rotating president of the G7 next year.

“Our defence cooperation is an important pillar of Hungary’s security,” Szijjártó said, and noted that Canada had provided training to Hungarian fighter pilots in recent years and that the Hungarian military had purchased its air defence radar systems partly from Canada.

“Both countries are in the nuclear camp, with nuclear energy having an over 10 percent share (in total consumption) and we have agreed that we would exploit opportunities in research and development cooperation,” the minister said.

Szijjártó also said Hungary’s exports to Canada, mainly food products, exceeded an annual 450 million dollars, adding that it was “a great record”.

With Melanie Joy
With Melanie Joy. Photo: FB/Szijjártó

Read also:

  • Russian agents operating in Hungary identified – Read more HERE
  • Putin’s insider: If Trump wins, Croatia will be divided between Serbia and Hungary

Ukrainian-Hungarian Intergovernmental Consultation to review the situation of Hungarians in Transcarpathia

Ukraine and Hungary Cooperation

Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, on Tuesday said he has spoken by phone with Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, and they reviewed the situation regarding the rights of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community.

In a post on Facebook, Szijjártó said that following a decision made at their previous meeting in Uzhhorod (Ungvár) on Jan 29, a working group will hold an online consultation on Thursday, adding he was hopeful that “progress will be made”.

“We reviewed the infrastructure development projects at the Ukrainian-Hungarian border and established that while progressing at a good pace, they must be speeded up so as to eliminate … long waiting times,” he wrote.

Szijjártó will hold talks with the Ukrainian foreign minister on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday.

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Breaking: Russian agents operating in Hungary identified

PM Orbán and Putin Russian gas

There is a Hungarian link to the Russian influence network in the European Union, which promotes Russian propaganda. The network has been placed on a national sanctions list by the Czech Republic, which claims that the aim of the Voice of Europe site was to block aid to Ukraine. In addition to this news site, the Hungarian individuals involved may also be linked to another news site also spreading Russian propaganda.

Russian agents operating in Hungary uncovered

Putyin
Vladimir Putin/Photo: TASS News Agency/Wikimedia Commons

As reported by Daily News Hungary, the Czech Republic has reported that a Russian propaganda network is operating in the European Union. The network has been placed on a national sanctions list for allegedly blocking aid to Ukraine through a site called Voice of Europe. Several EU politicians may be involved in the case, including Hungarians.

Hvg.hu has learned from sources with insight into the details of the intelligence operations that the counterintelligence service has identified two persons living in Budapest in the Russian influence network.

They are a French citizen living in Budapest and a French-Hungarian citizen also living in the Hungarian capital, who are active in far-right circles and have active contacts with Hungarian politicians.

Voice of Europe not the only such website

Viktor Medvedchuk
Viktor Medvedchuk Source: Wikimedia Commons/duma.gov.ru

The operator of the website voiceofeurope.com is registered in Prague, but is also active on Facebook and Platform X (formerly Twitter). As we reported, on Wednesday evening, the Voice of Europe site was no longer available. However, according to information from hvg.hu, the Hungarian stakeholders may be linked to another news portal, also spreading Russian propaganda, in addition to the Voice of Europe news site.

The individuals include Viktor Medvedchuk, a politician and businessman who was deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship after the outbreak of the war and now lives in Russia, and Artyom Marchevsky. They are behind the funding of the Voice of Europe news portal, spreading Russian propaganda.

Some European politicians who worked for the news site were allegedly paid with Russian money, which in some cases also covered campaign costs for the European Parliament elections in June. Voice of Europe has published statements by politicians who have called on the European Union to stop aid to Ukraine. They reportedly included politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary.

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Budapest transport centre extends free travel for Ukrainian refugees

Budapest sightseeing tram

Budapest transport centre BKK has extended the option of free use of the city’s public transport services for Ukraine refugees until Sept 30.

BKK said in a statement that the eligibility condition is the presentation of a Ukrainian travel document suitable for personal identification.

BKK said that after April 1, the free travel option will no longer apply to suburban buses and railway HEVs, the airport express 100E bus service, the Buda Castle funicular, “nostalgia services,” and boats.

 

Orbán cabinet: Ending Russia-Ukraine war Hungary’s fundamental interest

Szijjártó Rabat

Ending the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible and starting peace talks is in Hungary’s fundamental interest because continuing the war “brings the nightmare of a third world war closer” each day, the foreign minister told public radio on Sunday.

Many of Europe’s political leaders are under the influence of “a war psychosis”, Péter Szijjártó said in an interview.

“They speak and think as if they were personally at war…, and are unable to make reasonable decisions,” he said, adding that this led to statements about the possible option of sending [European] ground forces to the war.

NATO is the world’s strongest defence alliance, he said, adding that it would be “illogical” from Russia to attack any of its members since under its charter, NATO would need to respond as an alliance.

NATO was set up as an alliance tasked with defence and since it is not under attack, it does not need to respond, Szijjártó said.

Speaking about Europe’s defence industry, the foreign minister stated Hungary’s support to its development in the interest of boosting Europe’s industrial growth and to enable “Europe to defend itself without involving the United States”.

He said that a proposal by the European Council’s president “to shift to a war economy” was “posing an exceptional risk in itself”.

Hungary will continue to reject participation in any political or financial initiatives aimed at supplying additional weapons to Ukraine, Szijjártó said, adding that those would pose a risk of escalation of the war.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó welcomed that Krisztián Forró, nominated by Slovakia’s Hungarian Alliance party, has secured the fourth place in the first round of Slovakia’s presidential election this weekend. The Slovakian Hungarian community is “strong and has demonstrated political unity,” he added, and congratulated Forró on his result.

“Hungary always respects the desicion of voters in other countries, while its foreign policy is based on mutual respect; the country never interferes with the internal affairs of other countries and expects others to do the same,” he added.

“We wish to see more and more politicians internationally that speak the language of peace … we will always support such politicians,” Szijjártó said.

Read also:

  • Stunning visuals: Magical new bridge planned between Hungary and Slovakia – Read more and check out the visuals HERE
  • Two in one: newest Hungarian-Slovak border bridge inaugurated for the second time – Details in THIS article

SHOCKING – Putin’s insider: If Trump wins, Croatia will be divided between Serbia and Hungary

putin russia

Mikhail Khazin, a seasoned confidant of Vladimir Putin and an analyst at the state-owned Sputnik news agency, has expressed a notable perspective on the future of the European Union. His insights foreshadow an unexpected series of events that could precipitate a significant shift in the borders of European nations.

According to Khazin, the downfall of the EU appears imminent and could be significantly hastened if Donald Trump secures victory in the upcoming US elections. Khazin shared these insights during an interview with the Belarusian news agency Belset with the discussion subsequently published by jutarnji.hr, according to HVG.

Mikhail Hazin posits that a Trump triumph would leave Europe isolated, potentially catalysing the dissolution of the European Union. He envisages a return to a post-1945 scenario, where nations like Hungary may assert territorial claims, such as reclaiming Transylvania and Carpathia. In the interview, Hazin stated the following:

Let us not forget that Viktor Orbán often says that Hungary has always had a sea exit. In order to have one again, Croatia will have to be dismantled. Serbia and Hungary will share it, the moment the European Union is dissolved.

Hazin also predicts potential conflicts, such as Serbia invading Bosnia and Herzegovina, although specific details on these scenarios remain elusive.

As Hazin delves into speculative scenarios like Germany taking Silesia and Gdansk from Poland, his analysis seems to echo back to the pre-World War II era of 1939 rather than representing actual trends in Europe. This narrative reflects an unusual aspect of Putinist media, where analysts like Hazin engage in projections that may not align with current geopolitical realities.

A case in point illustrating this media dynamic is the incident involving the potential scientist Alexander Sityin, whose passion to decode Russian warfare inadvertently unveiled deeper truths about Russia’s expansionist ambitions beyond Ukraine, prompting an abrupt interruption in programming. Such instances underscore the intricate complexities and concealed agendas often interwoven within such media narratives.

Putin’s previous indications of territorial claims

This is not the first instance of Russia attempting to sow discord among its Western allies under the pretext of territorial ambitions. A notable example is when Vladimir Putin hinted at potential territorial claims by Poland, Hungary and Romania against Ukraine, followed by a subtle nod towards Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during an interview with Tucker Carlson.

During the interview, Putin denied ever suggesting to Viktor Orbán that Hungary could reclaim territories from Ukraine that were annexed during Soviet times and previously belonged to Hungary. However, the context and significance of this denial, especially concerning its impact on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, significantly diminish the credibility and significance of Putin’s statement or gesture.

This is not the first instance where Hungary’s territorial claims were discussed. Previously, we reported on a map revealed by Russian Security Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, which depicted Transcarpathia as part of Hungary, causing considerable surprise and concern.

This incident isn’t the first time Hungary’s territorial claims have surfaced. Previously, we reported on a map disclosed by Russian Security Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, which depicted Transcarpathia as part of Hungary, eliciting considerable surprise and concern.

Read also:

  • France leads the voices raising the threat of world war, says Hungarian FM Szijjártó – HERE
  • Orbán cabinet: Ukraine cannot win, Western troops’ deployment unacceptable – HERE

Government-close Századvég survey: Hungarians oppose sending European troops to Ukraine

Hungarians people budapest society street survey life expectancy at birth

Fully 86 percent of Hungarians oppose sending European or NATO troops to Ukraine, according to a fresh survey by pollster Századvég released on Thursday.

Századvég survey

In a statement, Századvég noted that several European leaders had recently “joined in on the war rhetoric of French President Emmanuel Macron”, proposing that European countries should support Ukraine in the war against Russia by sending troops of their own to the conflict.

Századvég said its survey found that 75 percent of Hungarians saw the war as conflict between the economic and military interests of the United States and Russia. Hungarians also say the biggest obstacle to peace is that neither side is willing to compromise, the statement added.

Altogether 77 percent of respondents said they had heard about the French president and other European as well as Ukrainian leaders urging the involvement of European troops in the conflict.

Meanwhile, Századvég also found that 80 percent of Hungarians say Russia is unlikely to attack Hungary if achieves a military victory in Ukraine, while 79 percent believe Russia would not attack NATO at all.

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Ukrainian authorities detain Hungarian man suspected of forcing women into sex work

hungarian man crime prostitution woman kidnap germany

Ukrainian authorities have detained a Hungarian national suspected of recruiting women with false promises and forcing them to work as prostitutes in Asian countries, Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday.

In a coordinated action of the Ukrainian border services, the Transcarpathian police and the prosecutor’s office, authorities arrested the 41-year-old man on 18 March and prevented that a presumptive victim, a Ukrainian woman leave the country, the authorities said. In a house search, they seized the man’s mobile phones, notes and documents proving illicit activities, as well as the car used to transport the woman, the authorities said on their website.

Hungarian man lured women with false promises

The man is suspected of having lured women with promises of work with a non-existent model agency. He promised women grappling with financial hardships “safe and well-paying jobs in Cambodia”, the statement said. In exchange for the women’s photos, personal data and copies of travel documents, he promised “plane tickets, decent living conditions and decent clients,” the authorities said.

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Orbán cabinet: EU must set clear directive on Russia-Ukraine conflict

Minister János Bóka eu

Hungary is calling on the European Union to set clear political guidelines on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the minister in charge of European Union affairs said on Tuesday.

János Bóka told the Hungarian press after a meeting of EU affairs ministers in Brussels that the EU must ensure its reactions to the war’s developments are predictable for the bloc and for Ukraine.

The EU’s policy on Ukraine has started developing in a way that could create strategic uncertainty instead of setting a clear political framework, he added.

The EU must also clarify the areas in which it will support Ukraine, he said. “We don’t think we can responsibly take on commitments of which boundaries are not clear to member states.”

Regarding the conflict between Hamas and Israel, Bóka said Hungary condemned the attacks by the terrorist organisation and demanded the immediate release of the hostages. Hungary recognised Israel’s right to self-defence, he said. Security risks to Israel must be eliminated before talks can start on the future of negotiations in the Middle East and on avoiding escalation, he added.

Humanitarian ceasefires must help aid efforts and the release of hostages, he added.

“We see it as important that aid reaches those truly in need of help and that Hamas and other terrorist organisations can’t abuse the efforts.”

Touching on the matter of European agriculture, Bóka said Hungary saw the issue as of primary importance. The Common Agricultural Policy must take into account the “the repercussions of opening the market to Ukraine, which is now felt in almost all member states,” he added.

The European summit starting on Thursday will discuss issues on migration, including the protection of the external borders and cooperation with third countries. Hungary is hoping for further deals similar to that signed with Egypt and “we would like the European Council to discuss and make decisions on the cooperation with Turkiye,” he added.

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PM Orbán receives head of Slovakia’s Hungarian Alliance party

Orbán receives head of Slovakia's Hungarian Alliance party

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received Krisztián Forró, the leader of Slovakia’s Hungarian Alliance party, in his office on Monday.

Orbán and Forró discussed the Slovak presidential election on Sunday and said that cooperation was of paramount importance.

Forró, who is candidate in the race, said it was important for Slovakian Hungarians to show that “they are there and that Hungarian will still be spoken in Slovakia, even in a thousand years’ time.”

Orbán and Forró highlighted the importance of the Visegrad Group, arguing that Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia should “find common ground” as “they can achieve more together”.

They called for a ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine, and took a stance against sending weapons or troops to Ukraine, “which is diametrically opposed to Hungarian interests.”

As we wrote last week, Slovak House Speaker Pellegrini holds talks in Budapest.

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  • Two in one: newest Hungarian-Slovak border bridge inaugurated for the second time – details HERE

 

No veto: EU Peace Facility top-up adopted with Hungarian constructive abstention – UPDATE🔄

EU Peace Facility

EU foreign affairs ministers agreed on Monday to top up the European Peace Facility with 5 billion euros in connection with funding for Ukraine, a decision made with Hungary’s constructive abstention, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on the sidelines of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

EU Peace Facility

EU member states can abstain from voting on a particular action without blocking it.

The minister said “the price” of Hungary’s agreement not to block the top-up was a change in the rules to exempt Hungary from involvement in financing arms deliveries.

“This means that we have to pay our share of 50 million euros, but we can determine the purpose of its use,” he stated.

He added that several important goals could be discussed in light of this, such as strengthening the stability of the Sahel region to combat migration and support the Western Balkans.

Szijjártó lamented that EU leaders “did not grasp that the EU’s Ukraine strategy has failed.” The cause of that reluctance could be that such recognition could raise the issue of taking responsibility for the damages Europe has incurred.

Referring to statements made earlier in the week concerning the possibility of deploying European troops to Ukraine, Szijjártó appealed to Western European politicians to refrain from such statements, calling them “extremely dangerous and fear-mongering.”

Anthony Blinken

Noting that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also joined part of the meeting via video call, Szijjártó said he had reminded his colleagues of an earlier NATO decision that “everything must be done to avoid direct confrontation with Russia”.

“Western and Eastern European statements that don’t exclude deploying troops … are in clear violation of that joint NATO decision,”

he said, adding that no member had initiated a review of that decision.

He said,

“I expressed my hope to the US secretary of state that NATO will never send troops” to Ukraine.

Increasingly militant statements from the EU or its member states would only make the situation worse, “summoning the specter of a third world war,” he said.

“An EU state sending ground troops to Ukraine would envelope the entire continent in conflagration… We are of the view that this is a grave violation of Article 5, as NATO is a defence alliance,” he said.

Ukrainian grain

As Ukraine’s neighbour, Hungary has experienced the consequences of the war first-hand, he said. “Besides the inflow of refugees, our agriculture was nearly brought to its knees by low-quality Ukrainian grain flooding central Europe,” he said.

As Polish farmers blocked the roads from Ukraine to that country protesting against the grain glut, much of the freight traffic was rerouted to Hungary, increasing waiting times and the workload on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, he said.

On the border at Fényeslitke, Hungary has set up the largest transfer facility for Ukrainian cargo in international comparison, “only the European liberal mainstream continues to forget” such achievements, he said.

With a view to easing the pressure on the border, Szijjártó noted he had talks with Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, at the weekend, and they agreed to open another border crossing between Nagyhodos in Hungary and Velyka Palad’ (Nagypalád) in Ukraine and to develop the crossing in Beregsurány further.

“If there is a country constantly facing the tragic consequences of the war … and taking on its burderns, and has the greatest interest in swiftly bringing about peace, it is Hungary,” he said.

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Hungarian government continues to be ready to contribute to intl humanitarian aid – UPDATE 🔄

gaza strip

Hungary spent over 70 million euros on humanitarian aid worldwide last year and is ready to continue contributing to international efforts, the foreign minister said in Brussels on Monday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the European Humanitarian Forum, Péter Szijjártó said humanity was facing a global humanitarian disaster, mainly due to “one of the worse security situations of the past couple of decades”.

Some 30 countries and regions are currently suffering armed conflict, the gravest of them raging in Ukraine and the Gaza strip, Szijjártó said.

Humanitarian aid to Ukraine

As a neighbour of Ukraine, Hungary has been facing the “tragic consequences” of the war for two years as over one million refugees arrived in the country, he said. He said those who decided to stay in the country were offered access to education and health care, with some 1,600 schools and kindergartens now receiving Ukrainian children.

Szijjártó said Hungary was staging the largest humanitarian action of its history, and was ready to continue providing aid. “But we also know that the real solution to this tragic situation would be the war coming to its end. Therefore, we will increase our efforts to stand up for peace.”

Humanitarian aid to Gaza

Regarding the conflict in Gaza, Szijjártó said the protection of civilians was paramount and called for aid from Egypt, “which is bearing a lot of the burden.” He said Hungary has sent 200 ventilators and other healthcare equipment to the country.

Szijjártó said the international community also had a responsibility to stave off the threat of terrorism, one of the root causes of migration. Creating safe circumstances for everyone to make a living in their homeland was “a global responsibility”, he said.

Humanitarian aid to Chad

The foreign minister added that Hungary is setting up a humanitarian and development center in Chad and is ready to deploy troops to the country to help combat terrorism.

As we wrote earlier, Hungary supports Chad, one of the poorest and most autocratic states in the world with soldiers, a development centre, and even a model farm. What for? The connection may be Hungary’s developing ties with France.

As we wrote earlier, the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta has opened a health centre set up in Hungary, details HERE.

UPDATE

Hungary providing humanitarian support to Gaza refugees

Hungary provides humanitarian aid to the civilians suffering under the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, the foreign ministry state secretary in charge of aid to persecuted Christian communities said in Brussels on Monday.

Speaking to MTI after addressing the European Humanitarian Forum, Tristan Azbej said Hungary is helping Egypt manage the influx of refugees from Gaza by providing the country with medical supplies and financial aid. Hungary has also sent 400,000 US dollars’ worth of humanitarian aid to both Christians and Muslims in the Palestinian territories via the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, he added.

Meanwhile, Azbej said Hungary “hasn’t forgotten about the crisis zones that get less global attention”, either, noting that the government had launched a humanitarian and development project in the Sahel, which is facing political instability, desertification, a food crisis, a water shortage and civil wars.

Hungary, through its Hungary Helps humanitarian programme, has also sent a medical mission to Chad to aid internally displaced people as well as Sudanese and other refugees there, Azbej said. The government also helps persecuted Christians in Nigeria living under the threat of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups, the state secretary added.

“We believe in providing both immediate and long-term assistance to local communities,” Azbej said, underscoring the importance of Hungary’s support for the Chadian authorities caring for refugees.

France leads the voices raising the threat of world war, says Hungarian FM Szijjártó

ukraine

With the war going on for more than two years in Ukraine, the situation is the most critical yet in Europe, and the “specter of a world war looms ever larger,” the foreign minister said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook that the US Secretary of State will also join the meeting through a virtual call.

“Western European leaders must grasp that their strategy regarding the war has failed and they would have achieved a ceasefire long ago had they invested as much into brokering peace as they did into weapon deliveries,” he said.

Meanwhile, he insisted France was leading the voices “stoking the danger of world war”. Sending land troops to Ukraine threatened with regional escalation, and was “diametrically opposed to NATO decisions so far”, he added.

“We don’t want a war in Europe, and we hope our European colleagues will also cease playing with fire,” he said.

As we wrote a few days earlier, in an interview with Le Monde, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Hungary “knows the consequences of occupation by a fascist regime”, but its messages to Ukraine are radical. He also said that the world should have put Putin in his place at the beginning of the war, details HERE.

Also we wrote earlier, the Russian Embassy in Budapest issued a war statement.

Hungarian FM Szijjártó on the phone with Ukraine: what for?

Péter Szijjártó foreign minister phone

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had talks with Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, by phone on Thursday.

Szijjártó said on Facebook after the talks that the two sides “confirmed their wish to continue consultations with the goal of restoring the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia”.

The minister said an agreement had been reached during the talks to open a new border crossing with Ukraine, between Nagyhódosin Hungary and Velyka Palad (Nagypalád), as well as to allow trucks to cross at Beregsurány. He added that a relevant agreement would soon be signed by Hungary and Ukraine.

Szijjártó: Montenegro prepared for EU accession

Hungary’s government believes Montenegro is prepared for European Union membership, Szijjártó said in Podgorica on Thursday, adding that the Western Balkan country’s accession would give the bloc the fresh energy it needed amid the current difficulties.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Filip Ivanovic, his Montenegrin counterpart, Szijjártó noted that Hungary was taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of the year, in a period when the bloc was facing severe economic and security challenges.

“These challenges have thrown the European Union into a negative spiral, from which it can only emerge if it receives a fresh boost of energy from outside,” he said, according to a ministry statement.

“This vital new energy can come from the ambitious, emerging, fast-growing states of the Western Balkans,” Szijjártó said. “Therefore Hungary’s main goal during its six-month presidency will be to speed up the enlargement process.”

Szijjártó said enlargement was “progressing at a snail’s pace”, which he mainly attributed to the fact that the majority of EU member states did not currently support the process, “and especially not its acceleration”.

The minister said that “while it may appear otherwise in public”, behind closed doors, “several member states are voicing their objections and concerns about enlargement.”

If this were not the case, he said, Montenegro would not be in the position of having been a candidate for membership for sixteen years and conducting accession talks for twelve, but still not having managed to close a single chapter.

Szijjártó said Hungary’s position on the matter was clear. “Montenegro is already prepared for EU accession, which would also greatly benefit the bloc,” he added.

“That is why the time has come to start closing the accession negotiation chapters with you,” he said, adding that the Hungarian government wanted to close the first chapters during its EU presidency.

“We believe there are up to ten accession chapters that have been sufficiently negotiated,” he said.

The minister noted that bilateral trade had expanded by 50 percent over ten years to close to a hundred million euros.

In addition, Hungarian companies have become market leaders in two key sectors in Montenegro as OTP Bank is the largest player in the local bank sector and 4iG has become the second largest telecom company.

Szijjártó said it was good news that Wizz Air was restarting the Podgorica-Budapest flight in April. He also noted that 35 Montenegrin students could study with scholarships at Hungarian universities every year, adding that this highly popular programme will be maintained in the future.

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Zelensky: Hungary is playing a dangerous game

zelensky orbán

In an interview with Le Monde, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Hungary “knows the consequences of occupation by a fascist regime”, but its messages to Ukraine are radical. He also said that the world should have put Putin in his place at the beginning of the war.

Zelensky: Most European leaders are on Ukraine’s side

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 90% of European leaders are on Ukraine’s side, although opinions differ within societies. In an interview with Le Monde, he said that before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Europe was very ambivalent, but the invasion had united it around Ukraine. “Thanks to this support, Ukraine has been able to stop Russia,” the president said, according to Index’s coverage based on Unian.

However, Zelensky said that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sometimes “plays a very dangerous game”.

“This is particularly dangerous for Hungary itself. This country knows what invasion is, it knows the consequences of a fascist regime, and I am surprised that Budapest’s messages to Ukraine are radical. Playing games with Trump will not work either. He is an independent leader. Nobody likes having weak friends,” he added.

Europe made mistakes in dealing with Russia

The Ukrainian President believes that since the beginning of the war, Europe has made many mistakes in dealing with Russian aggression against Ukraine. For example, everyone has tried to “shake hands with Putin” to demonstrate that he can be appeased. “It all went wrong. There was not a strong enough position after the invasion of Crimea and the war in Donbass,” he said.

The world should’ve put Putin in his place.

Then after the aggression, everyone looked at America: ‘Are they going to impose sanctions?’ Europe and the United States should have taken the lead and imposed tough sanctions. In the end, the slowdown in arms deliveries means there is a risk of a third mistake: trying to divert world attention from Ukraine,” Zelensky warns.

Current situation on the front

In an interview with BFMTV and Le Monde, Zelensky also said that the situation on the Ukrainian front is better now than it has been for the last three months. “I can give you this fresh information: the situation has improved a lot compared to the last three months,” he said.

He admitted that the army was facing difficulties due to a lack of artillery ammunition, an air blockade, Russian long-range weapons and very heavy drone strikes. However, he said they have managed to halt the Russian advance, inflicting heavy losses on the attacker.

“It’s hard to be too positive today while the war is going on, we can only be positive when we end this war and there is a just peace and we win. But if we want to be realistic today, Russia’s advance has stopped,”

he said.

Responding to French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for Western troops to be sent to Ukraine, he said, “As long as Ukraine holds its ground, the French army can stay on French soil.”

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UK and US alliance is key to Ukraine, says the founder of Urklandfarming Oleg Bakhmatyuk

agriculture grain

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As the Russian invasion of Ukraine completes two years, the United States and the United Kingdom have been discussing their role in the conflict by planning to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years. According to Britain’s Daily Telegraph, warheads three times stronger than the bomb used in Hiroshima will be located in Suffolk.

Such pressing news comes as decisive for Oleg Bakhmatyuk, founder and CEO of Urklandfarming, a group of major agricultural companies in Ukraine and globally. Though he believes the war will not end this year, it is expected that 2024 will mark a significant strengthening of Ukrainian defenses as new technology is implemented. For the entrepreneur, this will give the country an advantage on the battlefield.

The United Kingdom has shown support to the Ukrainian government with €3 billion in 2024 alone, an addition that Bakhmatyuk sees not only as extremely important but critical for Ukraine. Such investment not only affects the budget of the country but also stresses that Britain is still a consistent ally. “We are talking about a certain framework of security guarantees, a certain formalization of such intentions to support Ukraine”, he explains. “This is extremely important in itself, and it is a serious signal to other allies and partners.”

The prospect is similar when it comes to the United States too. As 2024 marks the year of a presidential election and Donald Trump starts rallying for his comeback, the founder of Urklandfarmingbelieves that Ukrainian diplomacy will be key. For him, this is not so much of a challenge, as the country has been showing effectiveness and productivity in this area for the past years. “But again, the president’s primary role is to execute the will of the voters and American voters are clearly on the side of global stability and security, which means they are on the side of Ukraine”, he claims.

However, when it comes to Ukraine’s presidential elections, which should also be held this year, Bakhmatyuksays it is “inappropriate” to pursue that as there are security issues and several territories that are still under Russian control. “There is also the issue of domestic political stability, after all, every presidential election in Ukraine has been held in an atmosphere of fierce competition and high emotional intensity”, he says. “So, the choice is simple: either we continue fighting to bring victory closer, or we focus on elections. I believe that, in such circumstances, elections can wait.”

Despite all the losses coming from the war and as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, the entrepreneur believes Ukraine is doing well: “Ukraine has not only survived but also seen economic growth that exceeds even optimistic forecasts.”

This happened in part because the country has restored its grain export capabilities by creating a “grain corridor” in the Black Sea, despite Russia’s interventions. “This has greatly strengthened us and it is primarily due to the Ukrainian defense forces and the Ukrainian agricultural sector, which is not the first time becoming the basis for the stability of the Ukrainian economy”, explains the CEO of Urklandfarming.

As for Urklandfarming, the group has suffered significant losses, so the key mission in 2024 is to survive, preserve and, if possible, recover lost farmland that amounts to up to 35 of their original holdings. But for Oleg Bakhmatyuk, this is about the present; the future also holds the prospect of not only maintaining but strengthening the company’s position as a grain supplier to the global market.

“In the future, Ukraine can not only retain its position as a major agricultural producer but also strengthen its presence and influence on global food markets.”

As a final remark, Bakhmatyuk argues that the easiest thing for big businesses to do in a situation like this is “to wrap up everything and leave Ukraine”. But for those who think not only about immediate profits but also about what will happen to the country in the coming decades, there is only one option: “to withstand this blow together with the whole country, to survive, recover, and develop further in the future.” And this is what Urklandfarming has been doing by using their experience, knowledge, technology, and capabilities to participate in this process.

Disclaimer: the author(s) of the sponsored article(s) are solely responsible for any opinions expressed or offers made. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of Daily News Hungary, and the editorial staff cannot be held responsible for their veracity.