Hungarian FM warns EU not to compete with US in arms supplies to Kiev

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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said some European politicians consider supplying weaponry to Ukraine as a way to compete with the US, but they forget that the crisis is primarily affecting Europe.

Addressing the Hungarian parliament, he said, "Europe and the transatlantic space is simply in a military psychosis. It is a shock to listen to lawmakers in Brussels who perceive it as a competition as to who will give more weapons to Ukraine - the US or Europe. First of all, of course, it is absolutely illogical to enter a competition with the world's first superpower in anything in the field of arms supplies."

"These bureaucrats forget" that the war is happening in Europe, not in the US, and it is Europe that feels "directly all its negative repercussions," as per Szijarto.

The minister assured that Hungary calls for a ceasefire and peace talks instead of imposing new anti-Russian sanctions and sending weapons to Kiev, emphasizing that peace would be "quite difficult" to achieve without direct negotiations between Russian and US authorities.

Furthermore, Szijjarto said that Budapest considers it unacceptable that Ukrainian state institutions are willing to pay $850 a year to Hungarians in the Zakarpattia region if children are sent to Ukrainian-language classes, noting that the move promises to be potentially harmful to national communities and minorities.

While Ukrainian children were enrolled in over 1,200 kindergartens and schools across the Hungarian State, Ukraine on the other hand was preparing to close down all 99 Hungarian minority schools in September of 2022, he added.

The big picture

Hungary was the only country in the EU to refuse to support Brussels' initiative to train the Ukrainian army in Europe, Szijjarto said back in October, highlighting that his country would not participate in the EU's training of Kiev's soldiers.

The country is the only European Union member state to take such a stance, with its Foreign Minister explaining Budapest's position by underlining that it supported peace efforts rather than escalation.

It has been staunchly opposed to the European Union's policies against Russia since the onset of the Ukraine war, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban refusing to impose sanctions the way the rest of the bloc has, in addition to refusing various other anti-Russian measures.

Read more: Hungary opposes Ukraine-NATO Commission - Szijjarto