Regarding the war in Ukraine, NATO's position still coincides with the Hungarian national interest, according to which everything must be done to prevent the conflict from spreading further across Ukraine's border, said Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó at the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the defense alliance in Berlin on Sunday.
In his briefing during the break of the meeting, the minister emphasized that the most important aspect of Hungary, as a country neighboring Ukraine, is that the war does not spread any further, therefore it is "extremely good news" that this is the common position crystallized following the position of the largest members of the alliance.
In NATO, "everyone knows that Hungary is on the side of peace" and as a neighboring country is in a "special situation", said Péter Szijjártó, noting that "the voice of common sense is fortunately quite strong" in the alliance.
He emphasized that NATO is a defense alliance, and "our interest and most important task is to protect Hungary and the Hungarian people". He added that there is also broad support for the position that everything must be done to avoid a direct collision between NATO and Russia. The situation is "extremely fragile" and "increased caution is needed", therefore "of course we understand and respect" that "a good number" of member states also help Ukraine with arms deliveries, but it is very important that these deliveries take place "not within the framework of NATO" yes.
The members also agree that "NATO will not supply weapons to this conflict". Hungary also decided not to deliver weapons to Ukraine and not to allow shipments directly to Ukraine to pass through its territory, because this can ensure that the country does not drift into war, explained the minister. As he said, it was also said at the meeting that "strategic communication with Russia" must be maintained in order to avoid escalation and "tragic consequences arising from certain misunderstandings". Hungary fully supports this and welcomes the fact that the American and Russian defense ministers had a direct telephone conversation this week.
Péter Szijjártó spoke about the humanitarian aspects of the crisis: he explained at the meeting that the number of refugees who arrived in Hungary from Ukraine had approached 700,000. He added: based on the "dynamics" of the war situation, the number of arrivals will not decrease, but Hungary is ready to help everyone who has to flee because of the war.
The minister said that the meeting also "relevantly" discussed punitive measures against Russia, in connection with which he emphasized that it is "pointless" to impose sanctions that "hurt ourselves more than the country against which we would impose them". He emphasized: Hungary continues to stand by its position that since "the Hungarian people are not responsible for the outbreak of this war, no one can expect the Hungarian people to pay the price of the war."
Speaking about the Finnish and Swedish accession aspirations, he emphasized that Hungary has always supported the "open door policy", but the "sensitivities" indicated by Turkey must also be taken into account.
Péter Szijjártó emphasized in connection with NATO's planned new strategic basic document that, in addition to the eastern one, the southern "security challenges", terrorism and illegal migration should not be forgotten. He explained: terrorist organizations are trying to take advantage of the fact that Europe's attention is focused on the war in Ukraine, and since both Russia and Ukraine are among the largest exporters of grain, the declining exports due to their conflict can cause serious food problems in regions that are already less stable. And this can lead to the strengthening of extremism and terrorism, as a result of which new waves of migration can start, said the minister.
(MTI)
Featured Image: Photo: MTI/EPA/Julien Warnand
