Hungary will neither provide weapons nor funding to Ukraine and backs U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace initiatives, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday after a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
"A brutal war fanaticism has gripped the European members of NATO. This blinds them and makes them incapable of making rational decisions," Szijjarto said, adding that the European mainstream members of NATO were undermining Trump's peace efforts.
Hungary also pushed back sharply on Wednesday against the European Union’s decision to phase out Russian gas imports by late 2027, warning that the move threatens energy security even as the bloc seeks to end its longstanding dependence on Russian supplies.
Representatives of EU governments and the European Parliament reached a deal in the early hours of Wednesday on the European Commission’s proposal to halt Russian gas shipments, the bloc’s top energy source before Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But Budapest signaled that it may challenge the package, arguing that member states must be free to decide their own energy mix and cannot be forced into measures that undermine national interests.
Hungarian officials have repeatedly criticized EU sanctions and energy restrictions targeting Russia, saying they disproportionately harm European consumers while failing to alter Moscow’s course.
The latest agreement now faces potential legal and political hurdles, with Hungary expected to play a key role in the coming debates.
