Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote a reply letter to the 44 members of the European Parliament who recently sent him a joint letter regarding the war in Ukraine; in his reply, the prime minister stood for peace and helping Ukraine, but at the same time rejected insulting Hungary, the banning of church leaders and the sanctions proposals that go against common sense, Bertalan Havasi, the prime minister's press chief, told MTI on Thursday.
According to Viktor Orbán, Hungary's position regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war was clear from the beginning, we condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine's territorial sovereignty and the violation of the Budapest Convention.
We want peace. The armed conflict must be ended, and disputes must be settled through negotiation. Help Ukraine and take care of the refugees. So far, nearly 800,000 refugees have arrived in Hungary from Ukraine, and we have provided them with food, accommodation, and medicine. We provide education for children and work for adults. Tens of thousands of Hungarians welcomed those fleeing their homes, collected donations, and undertook voluntary work. In the meantime, we sent and continue to send humanitarian aid, donations, food, fuel, and medicine to Ukraine.
Viktor Orbán stated that, for all this, Hungary and its citizens do not deserve an insulting and discouraging tone, but recognition and thanks. Hungary's constitution protects religious freedom, so Hungary will never support the placing of church leaders on the sanctions list or their isolation from the faithful. Peace can only be restored with the active role of the churches. This opinion of ours was known in advance to all member countries - underlined the Prime Minister.
He added: During the adoption of the six sanctions packages so far, Hungary did everything in order to preserve European unity. We did this in such a way that it became more and more difficult to enforce the previously consensus-based principle that the introduced sanctions would not cause more damage to us than to Russia. Viktor Orbán emphasized: according to the Basic Treaty, the European Council makes its decisions unanimously.
The right of veto is conceptually incomprehensible, because in the absence of unanimity no decision can be made. Just as the members of the European Parliament cannot determine how to vote for the members of the European Council, the reverse is also true.
In the interest of Europe, I reserve Hungary's right to act with honest speech and calm arguments against proposals that go against common sense and threaten the impoverishment of Hungarian and European families. I am sure that in this endeavor I will find more and more partners among you. This is not only in the interest of Hungary, but also of Europe - concluded Viktor Orbán in his reply letter.
Source: Hungarian Nation
Featured image: John Thys/Reuters.
