Budapest needs to protect Hungarian-origin people living in western Ukraine - RT quoted Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto as saying.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto revealed that Hungary has military plans to protect Hungarian people living in western Ukraine. Szijjarto affirmed that Budapest is ready to take action to protect the 150,000 Hungarian people.
Our country has prepared emergency war scenarios, Foreign Minister Szijjarto told the Index news site. However, he said the Hungarian government wanted to avoid using this scenario and that was why Hungary was seeking a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the idea of giving up Russia to secure a ceasefire, saying that Ukraine could defeat Russia with the help of Western countries.
Hungary's foreign minister commented on the goals of the two countries, saying that Budapest has other interests with Kiev. Mr. Szijjarto said: "What are the benefits of Ukraine? Engage as many countries as possible in this conflict, at least through arms shipments. Meanwhile, our interest is to avoid this conflict and minimize the risk of being drawn into a war.
Szijjarto said that after Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine, Hungary has "closed all the problems" that had caused previous tensions with Ukraine.
Kiev has long accused Budapest of encouraging secretionism among Ukrainian-Hungarian communities, including secretly granting citizenship to people of Hungarian origin. In 2018, Ukraine deported the Hungarian consulate in Beregovo for this issue. The consulates staff were previously said to have been filmed while it appeared to be handing over naturalization documents to Ukrainians of Hungarian origin and instructing them to keep it a secret.
Relations between the two countries worsened in 2017, after Kiev passed a law on a roadmap to remove ethnic minority languages from schools in Ukraine. Budapest said the move was discriminatory against Hungarians and pledged it would hinder Ukraine's plans to join NATO and the EU unless the law was lifted.
Despite Foreign Minister Szijjarto's assessment that tensions are a thing of the past, Hungary has been harshly criticized by Ukraine in recent months. In May, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk accused Budapest of having friendly relations with Russia over cheap gas and secretly seeking to seize territories with a majority of Hungarians in Ukraine.
