Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said “dangerous proposals” regarding the response to the war in Ukraine “are on the table”.
“Dangerous proposals are on the table of NATO,” the prime minister said following talks with European Council President Charles Michel on Monday, adding that certain member states had again floated the idea of imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. “The last week was hardly easy, but this week will be even harder,” PM Orbán said, noting this week’s NATO and European Union summits. “NATO is a defense alliance,” PM Orbán said. “We are capable of protecting — and it is in fact our duty to protect — each other, but it is not NATO’s job to get involved in a military operation outside its territory.” “Hungary’s position is clear: we do not want to send soldiers or weapons beyond NATO territory,” he added.
Regarding Russian energy supplies, the prime minister said the issue had been “settled ten days ago — at least for a period of ten days” when Hungary had made it clear that it did not want the sanctions on Russia to be extended to oil and gas imports because that would put “disproportionately and almost unbearably heavy burdens on Hungary and some other EU countries”. “It would hurt us more than it would hurt Russia, the target of the sanctions,” PM Orbán said, adding that Hungary would join certain other countries in opposing sanctions on Russian energy imports, “and we will again protect Hungary’s energy supply and the security of the country’s ability to function”.
Photo credit: Facebook/Orbán Viktor