Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said US diplomacy has not given up on efforts to pressure Hungary into taking a pro-war position, but the government maintains the view that peace is in the common interest.
Referring to a billboard campaign, Gulyás told a government press briefing that “everyone can see in the streets in recent days” that instead of the opposition pursuing a campaign funded by US sources, the US embassy “is now directly running a campaign” in Hungary. “This is unusual, especially unusual among allies,” he said, adding that “the greatest problem” was that the US campaign “is a pro-war campaign”.
“It is a common interest that there should be a ceasefire and peace talks as soon as possible,” he said. Gulyás said that Hungary would not yield to US pressure, and saving lives could only be achieved through a ceasefire and peace talks, precisely at a time when “neither side can win this war”. He said Hungary abided by “international law” and had condemned Russia’s aggression and provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine with a focus on Transcarpathia. In response to a journalist’s question, Gulyás called the billboard campaign “unfortunate”, especially amid a political climate in which “organisations openly connected to the democratic administration contributed large funds to the Hungarian opposition’s 2022 election campaign”. The minister called this interference in Hungarian domestic politics. “This is not right,” he said. “So far it’s billboards, but this campaign may easily run on other surfaces in the future,” Gulyás said.