Ukrainian-Hungarian diplomatic conflict deepening
Dmytro Kuleba has rejected the accusations by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó that talks are taking place between Ukraine and the Hungarian opposition. He claims that Ukraine does not interfere in Hungary’s internal affairs. But what is the whole truth?
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó confirmed that there are ongoing talks between the representatives of the Hungarian opposition party and the Ukrainian government on how to influence the Hungarian elections.
This is based on a national security source of the Hungarian news portal Magyar Nemzet, according to which,
the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the Ukrainian ambassador in Budapest and asked Lyubov Nepop how to help the left-wing opposition win the elections.
„The Hungarian left has pledged that if they come to power, they would immediately decide on the transfer of arms to Ukraine and immediately vote in favour of sanctions on oil and gas supplies to Europe, including Hungary” – Péter Szijjártó said in a Facebook video on Wednesday morning.
According to the governing party, these actions would mean huge losses for Hungary. The Hungarian government has previously stated that Hungary should stay out of the war. As Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, if Hungary gets involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war, „we have nothing to gain and everything to lose”. Thus, Hungary does not allow any military troops or weapons to cross the country.
According to Péter Szijjártó, if the ’agreement’ between the left-wing opposition and the Ukrainian ambassador will be implemented – including military support to Ukraine and vote in favour of sanctions on gas and oil deliveries – this will have immediate and extremely serious consequences for Hungary.
The opposition Péter Márki-Zay reacted with a denunciation – reported by Index.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denied the allegations.
In a Facebook post, he responded accordingly: „Contrary to Hungary’s attitude towards Ukraine, we have never interfered in Hungary’s internal affairs, especially in the days before the elections. It is regrettable that, in the interests of short-term pre-election gain, Minister Szijjártó is prepared to invent nonsense, thereby destroying the long-standing relationship between us.”
Based on this, Ukraine has no intention of interfering with Hungary’s affairs. However, in a speech to the European Council last week, Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Viktor Orbán and sharply criticised Hungary. The Ukrainian President, in a speech to Danish MPs this week, was equally vehement in his calls for Europe to take action against the Hungarian government.
The President of Ukraine wants to achieve two things with the Hungarian government. The first is to vote in favour of extending sanctions to the energy sector, i.e. Hungary should not buy gas and oil from Russia. The second request was to allow arms shipments through its territory and send weapons to Ukraine.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán firmly rejected both of the Ukrainian leadership’s requests because they are contrary to Hungary’s interests. Hungary wants to stay out of this war, so it will not allow the transfer of arms shipments or sending weapons to Ukraine. At the same time, the country is doing all it can to help those fleeing the war by providing humanitarian aid – reported by Index.
In addition to Hungary, the Ukrainian president also sharply criticised Germany’s social democratic leadership.
In an online speech to the Bundestag plenary session on 17th March, Volodymyr Zelenskiy attacked Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz and called for a boycott. The Ukrainian president has sharply criticised the German leadership for putting the economy before human lives in Ukraine. The Chancellor immediately rejected the boycott and refuted the accusations that Germany is helping to finance Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine by importing energy from Russia. „We are talking about an incredible number of jobs. If these imports stopped overnight, it would mean whole industries would have to shut down.”
Accordingly, both Berlin and Budapest think that a total Russian energy boycott, as demanded by Zelenskiy, would cause serious economic damage to their own countries.
Source: magyarnemzet.hu, index.hu