Hungary will not send weapons and soldiers to Ukraine, this is a mandate given to the government by the Hungarian people - emphasized Zoltán Kovács, Secretary of State for International Communications and Relations, in an interview with CNN on Friday.
Christiane Amanpour, the leading international correspondent and host of the news television, asked the state secretary how to explain the Hungarian dissent on this issue, which differs from the EU. Zoltán Kovács denied that this was the Hungarian attitude. As he said, Hungary is not isolated. He is 100% in favor of the decisions of NATO and the European Union. He explained: Hungary does not want to be dragged into this war.
In support of the presenter's claim, he referred to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's international press conference held after his convincing election victory, saying that Hungary would have no difficulty paying Russia for gas in rubles if the Russians asked for it. What is the explanation for this? Amanpour asked. In his reply, Zoltán Kovács said: it is worth clarifying the concepts.
There is no common public procurement procedure for gas and oil purchases for the member states of the European Union. For this reason, Hungary complies with the treaties concluded with Russia. According to them, however, it is only a technical question in which currency the Hungarians pay.
The Secretary of State responsible for international communication and relations emphasized: this does not mean circumventing the international policy on sanctions.
The Hungarian economy and population are 85 percent dependent on Russian gas. Zoltán Kovács said that "we did not create this situation, we inherited it, without any other solution."
He added that there is currently no other solution for gas and oil purchases, even though there are messages from other parts of Europe and Ukraine that the current practice should be abandoned.
Source: vasarnap.hu
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