Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has called for rejecting "the very idea of European mandatory conscription", saying it must be made clear that "no one will take young Hungarians to the Ukrainian front".
Speaking at a campaign event in Nagykőrös, in central Hungary, on Tuesday, Minister Szijjártó said that with the EP election campaign in its home stretch, the “war psychosis in Brussels has reached its peak”. He said this was evidenced by several of his counterparts calling the French president’s remarks about the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine “an excellent idea” at the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday. He said “the idea of European conscriptions is obviously about taking young Europeans to the Ukrainian-Russian front to fight.” “And we know full well how this usually works: well, boys, the ones closest will be the first to go. And then they’ll want to take young central Europeans and Hungarians to the Ukrainian-Russian front. Oh no, they won’t!” “The very idea of European conscription must be rejected,” Szijjártó said. “It must be made clear that no one will take young Hungarians to the Ukrainian front with any kind of force or on the basis of any decision.” Szijjártó said the only solution to the conflict was a diplomatic settlement.