Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Sunday that the missile attacks near Lviv highlight the importance of the Hungarian government's previous decision not to allow the transport of lethal aid through Hungary to Ukraine.
Minister Szijjártó said on Facebook that Hungary would resist all forms of pressure and maintain the ban on weapons transports to Ukraine from its territory. War operations in Ukraine are increasingly serious and shifting towards the west, he added. According to military experts, a recent missile attack only a few dozen kilometres from the Polish border was meant to demonstrate that Russia wants to block the delivery of western weapons to Ukraine.
The minister said Russian military operations clearly show that such weapons transports would pose serious risks to Hungary and the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia inhabited by many ethnic Hungarians. The minister said he had talked over the phone with Hungary’s ambassador in Ukraine István Íjgyártó, who is temporarily based in Lviv. The diplomat reported that despite an earlier air raid, the city was calm. The Hungarian embassy will stay in Lviv so as to be able to help Hungarians in trouble and maintain high-level dialogue, he said. Fewer than ten European Union member countries still maintain an embassy in Ukraine, he added.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter