VIDEO – FM Szijjártó on CNN: Ukraine would weaken the EU, Hungary can adapt to Trump’s tariffs, LGBTQ people should not provoke others

“The accession of Ukraine would weaken the European Union and would import the war into the European Union,” therefore, Hungary opposes the country’s EU entry, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in an interview with CNN in New York on Thursday.

Szijjártó: Hungary helps Ukraine

Furthermore, Szijjártó said it was unacceptable that the European Commission‘s draft budget proposal envisaged 300 billion euros of support for Ukraine over the next seven years. “This is not fair, and it is unacceptable to us. We don’t want the money of Hungarian taxpayers to be brought to Ukraine,” he said.

In response to a question the minister said Hungary had been carrying out the largest humanitarian operation in its history in Ukraine. “We are helping Ukraine in many ways. But we are not ready to ruin Hungary. Hungarian people have been paying the price of war for too long time now although we don’t have any kind of responsibility,” he said.

Then he touched on the situation of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Transcarpathia, and said that the Ukrainian authorities in 2015 had started gradually restricting their rights to use their mother tongue.

Hungary ready for Trump’s tariffs

On the planned US tariff raises against the EU, Szijjártó said while it would not be easy, Hungary could adapt to this situation. Since the United States is Hungary’s second most important trade partner after the EU, the country is interested in lower tariffs, he added.

• CNN also alerted: beetle infestation destroys Hungary’s oldest library – PHOTOS

He said the European Commission had made a serious mistake when US President Donald Trump entered office, because they should have immediately cut tariffs on car industry exports as proposed by the Hungarian government, and now the EU would be in a better position.

Szijjártó called the Brussels leadership “extremely weak,” arguing that the bloc had been unable to conclude a good deal for a long time, and therefore European competitiveness had deteriorated.

• FM Szijjártó: the European Commission makes energy more expensive

Budapest Pride

“The European Union used to be a strong player in politics and the global economy, but this is unfortunately in the past. Why? Because the European leaders have screwed it up.”

Finally, in response to the last question, he said the Budapest Pride had also proven that “love is absolutely free” in Hungary, “we only ask for one thing, do not behave in a provocative, embarrassing, impolite way” in public, he added.

Here’s the full interview:

Read more news concerning the war in Ukraine.