Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Wednesday that Hungary refuses to back any proposal at the upcoming meeting of NATO foreign ministers that would push NATO closer to war or turn it into an offensive alliance.
“NATO is a defense alliance,” the foreign minister said in Brussels before the meeting. “Hungary will reject any proposal that would transform it into an offensive alliance as this would lead to the serious danger of escalation.” “The war is horrendous; naturally we condemn it,” he said. “But let’s make it clear over and over again: this isn’t our war. This isn’t Hungary’s war, and it isn’t NATO’s war either.” The minister said the two-day meeting’s vital goal should be to prevent the war in Ukraine from becoming a war involving NATO. He said everything must be done “to avoid a direct conflict between NATO and Russia in the following period.” Szijjártó warned that proposals were on the table that “would definitely cross some of the lines that have been red up to now”. He also referred to “statements made in recent weeks by Western European politicians” on the possibility of sending soldiers to Ukraine, saying that Hungary rejected any proposal that would escalate the war. “We hope that common sense and the desire for peace and security will prevail at … the meeting over the next two days,” he said.