The Hungarian government considers them “outrageous” and strongly rejects accusations that they are using the Russian narrative in connection with EU sanctions against Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Monday, reports the MTI agency, citing Rador.

According to a press release published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Hungary, the head of Hungarian diplomacy said during the break of the Council of Foreign Affairs meeting that there was an “ideological discussion overheated with feelings about the events.” in Ukraine and their influence, where common sense and reason, they really had no place.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary called it a “useless and artificial competition” to compare whether the EU provides enough aid to Ukraine compared to the US. In this sense, Peter Szijjártó showed that there is no economy in the world that would suffer as much from sanctions as the EU, where inflation has risen sharply. “And, of course, we know exactly who benefits from it,” Sijarto added.

According to the Hungarian minister, the introduced sanctions did not live up to expectations, they did not help to end the war earlier, moreover, voices were heard on Monday that “denied the existence of this argument.”

In the debate over a possible ninth package of sanctions, “some have gone so far as to claim that those who say that sanctions are not working are using the Russian narrative,” Sijarto noted.

“Which is disgusting and should be rejected as strongly as possible,” emphasized the Hungarian official, who added: “Maybe others don’t understand, but we don’t care what the Russians think about what we say. We don’t care what Brussels thinks about what we say and think. We are interested in only one thing, namely, that we can look at all existing problems through our own national interests.”

Sijarto: “We started supporting Ukraine much earlier than those who now proudly present themselves as Ukraine’s best friends”

“It is necessary to stand with two feet on the ground (…) We have to see that the sanctions cause extreme damage to the functioning of the European economy,” also said Peter Szijjártó, who noted that there is no legitimacy for the argument why direct or indirect negotiations between the participants should not be held war

“Peace is needed, peace negotiations are needed, and for this the participants in the war must talk to each other as soon as possible,” said Peter Szijjártó.

Regarding the planned program of financial assistance to Ukraine, the head of foreign affairs reiterated that Hungary is ready to continue to support Kyiv, but will not contribute funds to pan-European loans exclusively on a bilateral basis. “The common future is not in the direction of a common debt,” said Sijarto, who noted: “We started supporting Ukraine much earlier than those who now proudly present themselves in Europe as Ukraine’s best friends.”

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