Speaker of Parliament László Kövér said neither the European Union nor NATO is taking steps towards peace in Ukraine, but rather increasing escalation.
Concerning the criticisms levelled at Hungary’s parliament over not having debated Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids until now, Kövér told commercial HírTV late on Friday that Hungary was a sovereign country whose parliament sets its agenda at its own discretion. Sweden and Finland will not be able to join the alliance until Türkiye gives its approval, the speaker said, adding that this was unlikely to happen until it holds elections later this year. Kövér said it could take until the summer NATO summit for both countries to be ratified by all member states. He said the reason why Hungary was sending parliamentary delegations to Sweden and Finland was that the ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrat parliamentary groups had expressed concern and did not consider the decision on the ratification to be an automatic one. At the same time, he added, it should be clarified that Hungary is a sovereign member of both NATO and the EU and had joined both organisations voluntarily. Hungary does not believe that its position within these alliances has changed over the last decades, he said. The politicians who are now asking for Hungary’s support have behaved in a way “that would have been considered harsh even coming from our enemies”, Kövér said. It should be made clear that they have no right to interfere in Hungarian politics, Kövér said, adding that an alliance involves trust, “which was thoroughly undermined before the accession”. He said support for Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession was not a question of “good manners or sensitivity”, insisting that the two countries had insulted Hungary for years and had caused damage to its national interests. They are now pressuring EU institutions not to give Hungary the funding it is entitled to, he added. Kövér said the Hungarian delegation will meet with the Swedish and Finnish parliamentary speakers, relevant committees and foreign ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The delegation will be headed by Fidesz lawmaker Csaba Hende and will include Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and MEPs Enikő Győri and Ernő Schaller-Baross, he added. Kövér said the Swedish and Finnish armies were well-prepared and well-equipped and would strengthen NATO. He added, at the same time, that the 1,340km border NATO and Russia will share because Finland increased the risk of a future military conflict between them. He said the 60 billion US dollars worth of weapons EU and NATO member states had sent to Ukraine made them party to the conflict. Peace, he said, was ultimately dependent on Russia and Ukraine. Neither the EU nor NATO is taking steps towards peace, but rather increasing escalation, the speaker said. Kövér urged a compromise that takes into consideration both Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia’s security expectations. Meanwhile, he said the planned amendment to Hungary’s child protection law should also involve reviewing the regulation of media players that are not headquartered in Hungary but broadcast in the country.