Since the outbreak of the war, Hungary has delivered 1,300 tons of aid to Ukraine and helped hundreds of thousands of refugees in our country, but it still does not send weapons or soldiers - stressed Miklós Soltész, State Secretary, President of the National Humanitarian Coordination Council, after visiting Budapest with Ljubov Nepop, Ukraine's ambassador to Budapest. at the humanitarian transit point operating in the BOK hall.
Speaking to the public media, the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for church and ethnic relations stated that
Hungary can help much more if it remains an "island of peace" together with Transcarpathia.
Hungary also does not agree with the embargo on the import of Russian oil and gas, because it would hit the Hungarian and European economies to such an extent that "we would be ruined and we wouldn't be able to help," he said.
The Ukrainian ambassador, who visited the transit point for the first time, expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian government and Hungarians for their help and asked them to continue supporting those coming from Ukraine. At the same time, he indicated that he respects and understands the Hungarian position on the transfer of weapons, but does not agree with it. "You can't defend yourself without weapons," emphasized Ljubov Nepop.
The ambassador added: they are not asking for soldiers, they are not asking Hungary to go to war, they understand and consider important the Hungarian position that they want to preserve peace. At the same time, he continued, like other countries, Hungary is also being asked to consider in what form they could provide means for defense.
"Without defense, we won't be able to stop the Russian army (…) if they help us, then they can keep the peace here," he said. He also added that they are asking all countries for arms shipments and a stronger embargo, but that does not mean that they would not be grateful for any help.
Ljubov Nepop also suggested that the Hungarian authorities take action against a pro-Russian demonstration planned for April 30 in Budapest.
In response to MTI's question, the ambassador said that they had turned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a list so that the Hungarian authorities would not allow the demonstration. "When it comes to supporting a murderer, that's not about democracy," he said.
Miklós Soltész, after showing the ambassador around the transit point with representatives of charitable organizations, reported to the public media that so far 1,300 tons of food, medicine, medical equipment and clothes have been delivered to Ukraine, and Hungary also helped with more than 100,000 liters of fuel when the war broke out.
Refugees from Ukraine from the Russian-Ukrainian war in the BOK hall in Budapest, where the government opened a humanitarian transit point for them in cooperation with charitable organizations on March 21, 2022. MTI/Zoltán Balogh
He highlighted: so far, more than 620,000 people have arrived in Hungary from Ukraine, of which 270,000 refugees have been provided solidarity tickets by the Hungarian railway company.
He added that more than 300,000 people have been helped by charitable organizations in one way or another, with food, clothes, accommodation or health services. So far, 16,400 asylum applications have been submitted, and more than 101,000 temporary residence certificates have been issued by the authorities, he explained. The state secretary also highlighted that more than one billion HUF has already been offered in the Bridge for Subcarpathian program.
We are doing all of this despite many, many negative steps, messages and sentences, and despite the fact that in the last 8 years, part of Ukrainian politics has not been friendly towards the Transcarpathian Hungarians - noted Miklós Soltész.
Miklós Soltész: Source: MTI
He called the cooperation to help the refugees fantastic and thanked all the volunteers for their continuous, self-sacrificing work even during the Easter holidays.
Source and full article: vasarnap.hu
Featured image: Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest/ Facebook page
