Hungary has consented to the activation of the European Peace Facility (EPF), enabling the EU to deliver weapons to Ukraine, but it has also made clear that it will not do the same on a national, bilateral basis, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in Pristina after meeting Kosovo’s foreign minister, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz.
“Today we decided not allow lethal aid to transit Hungary. The reason for this decision is that such deliveries might become targets of hostile military action,” he said, adding that Hungary should not get involved in the war under any circumstances. The minister said the government’s stance rested on “the security of Hungary and the ethnic Hungarian community in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region”.
In the meantime, Szijjártó said Hungary has mobilised one of its largest humanitarian missions of all time, sending 600 million forints (EUR 1.62m) worth of aid, including bottled water, food, baby-care and hygiene products to Transcarpathia to avert a humanitarian disaster. “Hungarians do not want this war. They want peace in their neighbourhood and the region,” he said.
The minister said the country was proud of its troops serving in peacekeeping missions around the world, including in Kosovo. He noted that a Hungarian has commanded NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) since last November, and that the 490-strong Hungarian contingent is the third biggest involved in the mission. In the current situation, maintaining stability in the region is more important than ever before, he said. “Hungary is prepared to do everything it can to guarantee peace in its neighbourhood, including in the Western Balkans,” Szijjártó said.
hungarymatters.hu
