Aha Dua Permata: Hungary Refuses to Approve Allocation of 500Mln Euros for Arms for Ukraine

Tuesday, 14 November 2023

Hungary Refuses to Approve Allocation of 500Mln Euros for Arms for Ukraine

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
©AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Hungary blocked allocation of 500 million euros ($533 million) for arms delivery for Kiev under the European Peace Facility, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Monday.

According to Szijjarto, Hungary has not received guarantees from Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) on non-inclusion of Hungarian companies in the list of “international sponsors of war."

The minister stressed that there was a big pressure on Hungary regarding this issue during the meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday. has failed to provide guarantees.

“Surely, I did not agree to this today, we still adhere to our position: until we receive guarantees from the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption that the situation with the inclusion of OTP Bank or any other Hungarian enterprise for far-fetched reasons in the list of international war sponsors will never be repeated,” Szijjarto told Hungarian journalists.

Hungary will not support anti-Russian any sanctions

The European Commission will present the draft 12th package of anti-Russian sanctions to the EU countries this week, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations, Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday.

"At a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, we received information that the European Commission’s proposal for a new package of sanctions against Russia will be presented to member states this week," Szijjarto at a meeting with Hungarian reporters, which was broadcast on his Facebook page (banned in Russia, owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia).

As Szijjarto noted, he considers the introduction of the 12th package of sanctions "without any comprehensive analysis of the consequences of the first 11 packages" unjustified. He believes that the restrictive measures did not achieve the goal that was stated by the EU, but only caused damage to the European economy, since "the Russian economy was not brought to its knees, and peace in Ukraine did not come closer."

The minister said he is not yet familiar with Brussels’ latest proposals for the 12th package, but Budapest still opposes restrictions on nuclear cooperation with Moscow.

"Hungary will not support any sanctions against the nuclear industry, as this would mean abandoning the security of the Hungarian energy sector," he reiterated.

Szijjarto recalled that approval of a new block of restrictions against Russia will require a unanimous decision of all EU countries. According to preliminary data, the package does not provide for sanctions against organizations and enterprises of the Russian nuclear industry. As Szijjarto noted, one of the types of restrictive measures in this package will likely affect the Russian diamond industry.