Speaking in New York on Friday, the foreign minister said that unlike Hungarians, those who criticize Hungary’s pro-peace stance in respect of the war in Ukraine have not lost lives to the conflict yet.
Adressing the United Nations Security Council, Peter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, urged the international community to promote a diplomatic solution to the war. As a neighboring country, Hungary is directly confronted by the effects of the war on a daily basis, he said. Hungary is undertaking the biggest humanitarian aid program in its history, the minister said, adding the country would continue the programme as long as it was necessary. So far more than a million refugees have fled Ukraine via Hungary, he said, adding that those who intended to stay in Hungary were given equal access to health care and education. Also, companies that hire refugees have received support, he said. Minister Szijjártó said he represented a nation that had lost lives to the war, noting that many ethnic Hungarians from western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region have been conscripted into the army and many of them have died.