Szijjarto: EU, NATO ‘preparing for world war’

Peter Szijjarto said that European and North Atlantic leaders “are suffering from war psychosis and feel they are at war with Russia”. The greatest difference between that approach and Hungary’s is that “we don’t think the events in Ukraine are our war,” he added.

Hungary wants to focus on bringing the war to an end as soon as possible, he said. A pro-peace turnaround at the European parliamentary elections and a pro-peace president coming to power in the US in November would be “our best chance at peace”, he added.

While NATO earlier held the stance that it was not a party in the war between Russia and Ukraine and that everything should be done to avoid a conflict between the organisation and Russia, “certain member states have started to change that, and they’re pushing [NATO] into a coordinating role in weapon deliveries and Ukrainian military training,” Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto insisted that Hungary would soon come under pressure to participate in those operations. “That will not happen as long as we are on power,” he said.

He said the start of the war had prompted a “compulsion to compete and comply” in the EU, and “it has been said at several NATO foreign ministers’ meeting that Europe could not help Ukraine as much as the US.”

Szijjarto said he had voiced the opinion that “it is unfortunate to compete with the largest military superpower of the world, and that weapon deliveries will only prolong the war”. “Neither party can win this war, it can be ended only through negotiations.”

“As responsible governing decision-makers, our primary task is to preserve Hungarians’ safety, and that means staying out of the war,” he said.