Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has welcomed that a NATO assistance program for Ukraine launched in 2016 has been extended with conditions supported by Hungary.
Minister Szijjártó told a press conference after attending a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Brussels on Wednesday that participation in the support program will remain voluntary and it includes only non-lethal assistance. He also said NATO’s decision that everything had to be done to avoid direct confrontation with Russia was still valid. He said that despite “an atmosphere of war” that had “dominated the meeting”, this decision was not called into question by any of the participants. “The allies in fact made it clear today that Ukraine’s NATO membership under the current circumstances is out of the question,” he said. The minister asserted that Hungary supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “It must be made clear however that the war raging in that country is not Europe’s war, it is not fought either for the continent’s peace or for its democracy,” Szijjártó said, adding that Hungary greatly appreciated Ukraine’s “heroic fight” for its territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.