Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, urged “strategic calm” after a phone call with his Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, on Wednesday morning after a missile crashed on Polish territory, killing two people in the previous evening.
Minister Szijjártó expressed Hungary’s solidarity with Poland and offered help, saying the ties between Poland and Hungary were “more than a strategic partnership, this is a brotherhood”. In a video posted on Facebook, Szijjártó said Rau had told him that the circumstances of the missile hit were still unknown. Authorities are still investigating who used the missile, who launched it and what was the motivation, Szijjártó cited Rau as saying. Poland will conduct a comprehensive investigation and will brief Hungary, the foreign minister said. The Polish foreign ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to the country and handed him an official note demanding an “immediate and detailed explanation”, Rau said. Poland has also initiated a consultation under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, Rau said. In the video, Szijjártó called for “strategic calm from decision-makers … so we can avoid tragic and incontrollable consequences”. Regarding the stoppage of crude deliveries on the Druzhba pipeline late on Tuesday due to a Russian missile attack damaging Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Szijjártó said the pipeline itself was unharmed. He said that according to information on Wednesday morning, not the pipeline itself but a transformer supplying power to it had been hit. Deliveries are expected to restart soon, Szijjártó added. Hungary currently has reserves covering the demand for several months, energy supplies are not in danger, he said.