Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said that he summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Lyubov Nepop because of the fact that allegedly "Ukrainian leaders insult Hungary and its democracy. This was reported by Szijjártó in his Facebook.
According to him, from the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Hungary condemned the military aggression and declared its support for Ukraine's sovereignty. He emphasized that Hungary "allows hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the war to find shelter in their country."
"At the same time, the security of Hungary and the Hungarian people is most important to us. This is not our war, so we want to insulate ourselves from it. We are not willing to risk the peace and security of the Hungarian people, therefore we do not carry weapons and we do not vote for energy sanctions," Szijjártó said.
The point is that Hungary does not allow NATO to ship weapons to Ukraine through its territory and refuses to impose an embargo on Russian energy carriers, while all other EU countries are preparing for this step.
European leaders believe that Hungary wants to maintain friendly relations with Russia despite the war in Ukraine. The day before, the country held parliamentary elections in which the conservative Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, won a convincing victory for the fourth time in a row. He is seen in the EU as a politician who has friendly relations with the head of the aggressor country, Vladimir Putin.
In this regard, the world questioned the rule of law and democracy in the country.
"Statements about the formation of totalitarian systems and doubts about the will of the Hungarian people are unacceptable! It is time for Ukrainian leaders to stop insulting Hungary and consider the freedom of the Hungarian people," Szijjártó said on this occasion.
Note that after his victory, during his speech Orban said that during the election race his rivals were Brussels and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The fact is that world leaders demanded that Orban make up his mind about the Russian-Ukrainian war. In particular, Zelensky urged him to do so.
Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refused to participate in the meeting of the Visegrad Four in Budapest, expressing their protest against Orban because they believe that he is pursuing a pro-Putin policy.
Moreover, because of the undermining of the standards of the rule of law in the bloc, the European Commission is going to launch a powerful new mechanism to reduce funding for Hungary. It should be noted that this decision was thought about even before the start of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine.
In November 2021, the European Commission sent an official letter to Budapest with a request for information about concerns about the rule of law. Hungary's response served as the basis for the decision to reduce the country's funding.
The Commission has repeatedly taken Hungary to court in the EU because of its controversial actions. Against this backdrop, the European Parliament initiated an Article 7 procedure in 2018, an extreme step that could lead to the country losing its right to vote.
