“It is a lie that Hungary has been commissioned by Russia to pursue its Ukraine policy; the exclusive intent behind the Government’s measures is to force Kiev to withdraw the pieces of legislation that grossly violate the acquired rights of the 150 thousand strong Hungarian minority as soon as possible”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in the recess of Friday’s summit of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

“We reject in the strongest possible terms and are extremely offended by the campaign of lies that Ukrainian politicians have launched, according to which Hungary’s Ukraine policy is determined by Russia in some way”, the Minister said at a press conference at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels.

He added that Hungary is expecting NATO to show greater solidarity. As he explained, because of its geopolitical position Ukraine is to all intents and purposes being given free rein to not fulfil its international obligations in view of the fact that, although the central offices of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association in Uzhhorod (Ungvár) have been bombed twice, “nobody is saying a word”. “This is unacceptable and outrageous”, said Mr. Szijjártó, according to whom it is justified to expect NATO allies to stand up for each other.

“Whether or not a NATO-Ukraine summit can be held is exclusively dependent on Ukraine, not on us”, he emphasised.

On Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said with relation to the NATO-Ukraine ministerial summit, which did not take place because of Hungary’s veto, that it is important that Hungary and Ukraine come to an agreement on disputed issues at the earliest opportunity, adding that NATO-Ukraine meetings have been successfully held at ambassadorial level, but there is a great deal of support within the Alliance for the holding of ministerial-level sessions.

Mr. Szijjártó spoke about the fact that in addition to challenges from the East the military organisation must also provide suitable responses to challenges from the South, in view of the fact that the waves of illegal immigration are engendering the security and stability of the European region.

He declared that NATO must help the European Union to curb and prevent the waves of migration, and accordingly the Hungarian Government believes the organisation must continue its operations on the Mediterranean.

Mr. Szijjártó welcomed the initiative according to which NATO will be launching an independent training mission in Iraq, and highlighted the fact that Hungary is prepared to contribute to the move and will be fulfilling its commitments towards the alliance. The Minister pointed out that there are already 165 Hungarian soldiers stationed in the region, and Parliament has authorised an increase of the Hungarian contingent to 200 personnel.

In closing, Mr. Szijjártó expressed his opinion according to which, while NATO is contributing to establishing and maintaining stability in Afghanistan, it is a “legitimate, justified and necessary” expectation that the South Asian country should “cease to be a source country with relation to migration processes aimed at Europe”.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)