According to a statement from the ministry, FM Szijjártó told the programme Igazság órája that a kind of “war fanaticism” has now taken hold in Brussels among liberal European politicians.
The foreign minister said that at last week’s NATO meeting of foreign ministers, Western European, Nordic and Baltic countries had argued that even if peace were achieved, Europe should prepare for a long-term hostile relationship with Russia. He added that at Monday’s EU foreign affairs council meeting, ministers discussed financing Ukraine even in the event of peace, using European taxpayers’ money.
FM Szijjártó said this demonstrated that the European political elite was not genuinely interested in peace. He added that he was concerned by developments in which European actors sought to interfere in the peace process, instead of allowing talks between the United States and Russia to proceed.
The foreign minister said he hoped that the strength of US–Russian negotiations would outweigh European attempts to undermine peace. He argued that the prospects for peace depended on whether efforts to build a diplomatic solution were stronger than attempts to sabotage it.
FM Szijjártó also said that it had become clear in Brussels that EU politicians were willing to disregard their own rules in order to push the continent further toward war. He warned that plans to channel vast sums from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine would increase the risk of prolonging and escalating the conflict.
He noted that the European Union was discussing sending the equivalent of HUF 80,000 billion to Ukraine, including HUF 46,000 billion for arming and sustaining the Ukrainian army. FM Szijjártó stressed that this was fully contrary to Hungary’s national security interests.
The foreign minister reiterated that Hungary would not spend a single forint of Hungarian taxpayers’ money on Ukraine, whether for financing the Ukrainian state, arming its military, or sustaining the war.
FM Szijjártó rejected claims that Ukraine was fighting on behalf of Europe, saying Ukraine was fighting for itself. He added that neither Europe nor the transatlantic community depended on Ukraine for their security, as NATO remained the strongest and most successful defense alliance in history.
Finally, FM Szijjártó recalled that Hungary had carried out the largest humanitarian action in its history to support refugees from Ukraine, and noted that a significant share of Ukraine’s natural gas and electricity imports currently comes from Hungary. He said that Hungary contributed substantially to ensuring that Ukrainian families had heating and electricity, despite claims by others about their level of support.