We here in the neighborhood are aware of all the dangers and losses of the war, Hungarian people also died in this war - stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the parliament.

Human lives cannot be saved with arms shipments, not with sanctions, but with peace, stated Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in his speech before the agenda at the session of the Parliament on Monday. The head of the ministry explained: the war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for more than a year, and the chronicle of this more than one year is devastating. Hundreds of thousands of people died, millions of people were forced to flee their homes, hundreds of thousands of families were torn apart, many thousands of people were forcibly conscripted, and parts of the country were destroyed, he listed. He continued, "the European economy is struggling all the while."

It is geographically a regional war, but its effects are global, and "we are in the 25th hour to prevent" it from becoming a world war, he said. 

Hungary is not responsible for the war that broke out in the neighborhood

Péter Szijjártó stated: Europe and the transatlantic region are in war psychosis, there are those in Brussels who see it as a competition whether the United States or Europe gives more weapons to Ukraine. By the fact that this war is taking place in Europe, all its negative effects will be felt directly and immediately in Europe, he added. He emphasized: "we here in the neighborhood" are aware of all the dangers and losses of the war, Hungarian people also died in this war, as members of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community are regularly conscripted into the Ukrainian army. "When our Western friends try to teach us that we are not committed enough or that we do not help Ukraine enough," the question must be asked, how many lives have they lost so far, he said.

He added: "no one should educate us out of support or commitment!" The head of the ministry emphasized: Hungary is not responsible for the war that broke out in the neighborhood, "this is not our war".

However, Hungary and the Hungarian people pay too high a price for the war and no one can expect us to pay an even higher price.

he declared.

He said: "we from the neighborhood (...) clearly see" that this war only brings suffering, that this war can have no winners, only losers. The longer this war lasts, the more people will die, the more destruction it will cause, he said. He believed that the task of the international community would be to save human lives, but human lives cannot be saved with arms deliveries or sanctions, but with peace. He elaborated: "sanctions hurt us Europeans more" than Russia. Logically, one would think that if something has been tried nine times and failed nine times, then we will not run for it the tenth time, he said. He added: but "Brussels logic dictates otherwise", after nine unsuccessful attempts, a new package of sanctions was adopted.

We stand by the Transcarpathian Hungarian community

Péter Szijjártó also spoke about how the global majority is on the side of peace and that Hungary is part of this global peace majority. Peace requires peace negotiations, and for this the communication channels must be kept open, he explained. He noted: it is inevitable that there should be direct consultations and substantive negotiations between the United States and Russia, and it is difficult to imagine a lasting settlement without direct American-Russian negotiations.

The minister elaborated on this: while the largest humanitarian operation in the history of Hungary is being carried out to help all Ukrainian refugees, the Transcarpathian Hungarian national community is being deprived of rights and provocations again and again. While 1,247 Hungarian schools and kindergartens have already accepted children who fled Ukraine, from September

In Ukraine, the Hungarian minority schools are condemned to be closed, they will lose the possibility of graduation and university admission in the mother tongue, and the universities will lose the opportunity to choose the language of education, he said. 

He said: Hungary stands by the Transcarpathian Hungarian community and uses all international forums in order to provide assistance to Transcarpathian Hungarians. At the end of his speech, Péter Szijjártó asked the representatives to become part of the global pro-peace majority and to accept the pro-peace resolution that was submitted to the Parliament by the pro-government factions.

(MTI)

Featured image: Árpád Földházi