Hungary was the only member state to use the option of a constructive abstention in the vote on the European Union training mission launched for the Ukrainian army, as the government does not support proposals involving the risk of escalation, according to the ministry's information, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Luxembourg.
The head of the ministry reported during the break of the EU foreign ministers' council meeting that this stay is made possible by EU law, so our country did not prevent the mission, but at the same time it does not participate in it and does not contribute to the costs of the operation.
" We do not consider anything that leads to an escalation to be a good idea, which, if appropriate, involves the danger of the central or western half of Europe being involved in the conflict, " he said.
He then added that it will always be decided individually whether to allow possible shipments or troop movements related to the mission through the territory of the country.
Péter Szijjártó also announced that
for the sixth time, the community is regrouping another 500 million euros from the sources of the European peace framework for at least partial financing of arms shipments to Ukraine.
" Hungary has also contributed to this funding, but I indicated that I cannot guarantee that this will be the case next time, " he said.
He pointed out that this framework also includes financial appropriations for several other important purposes, which are necessary to deal with the challenges coming from the south, so the continent could be in big trouble if there is no money for these.
Not to mention that this is a common European Union resource. Hungary contributes ten million euros to the operation of the European peace framework, compared to this, we hear from actors in Brussels and the leaders of some member states that Hungary is not doing enough to help Ukraine," he underlined .
The minister complained that the word "peace" was not mentioned in the speech of any of the participants, and he called the atmosphere of the meeting "rather combative". " The escalation of the past period increasingly reinforces the need for as many people as possible to finally talk about peace, and instead of the escalation approach, the peace approach finally prevails, " he opined.
He emphasized:
as a neighboring state, Hungary's position is that a ceasefire and peace negotiations are needed as soon as possible,
and for this the communication channels must be maintained, because without them even the hope of a diplomatic settlement is lost.
" Our number one duty and task is to ensure the safety of Hungary and the Hungarian people, and to avoid involvement in the war, " he stated.
Péter Szijjártó said that, unfortunately, there was also a lot of talk about sanctions, because it seems that some leaders are not willing to acknowledge the reality, while the exact opposite of what was promised is happening, because the punitive measures did not lead to a quick end to the war, but the European economy he was in an extremely difficult situation.
" I really don't know where they live when they talk about the success of European Union sanctions, " he declared. He added: the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines was a shocking terrorist act, so it should be made clear that the EU would consider a sabotage action against the Turkish Stream as a terrorist attack.
Finally, he touched on the other main topic of the meeting, European-Chinese relations,
and warned that some would seek to undermine bilateral cooperation, which would result in new severe economic difficulties after the two "deep blows" of recent years.
" The European Union cannot allow themselves to be looked at as stupid, and these threads will also be cut, " he said, stressing that pragmatic, rational, mutually beneficial cooperation is needed.
Author: hirado.hu
Photo: Facebook
