Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has criticized the Western policy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, stating that sanctions have failed and only hurt EU economies. Szijjarto’s remarks were made during a speech at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo, where he expressed Hungary’s dissenting position from the « liberal mainstream. »
Speaking at the think tank, Hungrian foreign miniuster Peter Szijjarto stressed that the US and EU’s strategy towards Russia has « completely failed » and questioned the effectiveness of escalating sanctions.
Szijjarto undelined « During the discussion of the first package of sanctions, more than two years ago, I raised the question about the purpose of the measures, and the answer was, to bring Russia to its knees economically and bring the war closer to an end, »
The Fm highlighted that despite multiple rounds of sanctions, the conflict continues, and European countries end up paying higher prices for oil and gas due to shifting their purchases away from Russia.
« We are now discussing a 14th package [of sanctions]. Don’t you get it? You failed at something 13 times over, and now you’re trying to do it for a 14th time ? That’s a bit against Hungarian logic, » Szijjarto said in a statement,
The Hungarian diplomat also criticized the suggestion of sending NATO troops to Ukraine, calling such statements « crazy » and warning of the increased risk of a direct conflict with Russia. Szijjarto affirmed that Hungary would not participate in such actions, nor allocate funds towards them. Also, Hungary throught its foreign minister has maintained its stance on seeking a negotiated settlement with Russia.
Its worth noting that Prime Minister Viktor Orban has resisted pressure to provide weapons to Ukraine or allow their transit through Hungarian territory, aligning with the country’s position to avoid military involvement in the conflict.
