In an American TV broadcast, Szijjártó spoke about a possible solution to the crisis in Ukraine. Hungary feels the effects of the war very directly, essentially immediately, and very seriously.
Hungary always urges peace in the Ukrainian-Russian war: a truce must be concluded and peace must be negotiated, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated in an interview with One America News Network (OANN), which he published on his Facebook page on Sunday.
Péter Szijjártó pointed out: Hungary feels the effects of the war very directly, essentially immediately, and very seriously.
"We have already received one million refugees from Ukraine, some of them have moved on, but many of them have stayed in Hungary. For them, we provide equal access to health care and education, 1,200 schools and kindergartens have accepted refugee children and students. Furthermore, we provide direct support to employers who employ refugees." said the head of the ministry.
Meanwhile, Europe's energy supply has fallen into a serious crisis; "prices have jumped like crazy," he said, explaining that last year Hungary paid 7 billion euros for energy imports, this year 19 billion, and next year this could reach 29 billion euros.
This represents a fourfold increase in two years, said Péter Szijjártó. This is why Hungary always urges peace, he added.
The minister also pointed out that the severe energy crisis particularly affects those who import a lot of energy. Hungary is one of them, so it is trying to avoid the European Commission proposing measures that reduce the amount of gas or oil on the European market and increase the price.
Therefore, Hungary firmly opposes ideas such as price caps and similar restrictions, he stated.
Péter Szijjártó said:
We strongly condemn war, but we are neighbors. So we're not an ocean away, and we're not a nuclear superpower either. We are a landlocked, medium-sized country in the immediate neighborhood of war. So it's always bad news for us when decisions are made anywhere in the world, for example in Washington, that carry the risk of further escalation of the war." - He told.
The minister also touched on the fact that the Hungarians, for example, are always attacked and criticized because they still maintain contact with the Russians.
Well, we talk to the Russians because Russia is the reality. Russia will remain the reality no matter how this war ends.
If we cut the lines of communication, we practically give up the hope of peace, he emphasized.
The head of the ministry said that the sanctions introduced by the EU are essentially a complete failure, raw material prices have skyrocketed, and food prices are "in the sky". "When the sanctions were first introduced, the European Commission - and I think Washington too - argued that the sanctions would bring Russia to its knees and the war would end soon, but now it's been eight months and the European economy has been brought to its knees, no the Russian.” - He told. He emphasized that everything that points towards escalation is bad for Hungary.
Source: 888.hu
Featured image: Facebook/OAN
