Hungary will not deploy foreign troops on its territory, as there is no need for this, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said in an interview with Euronews.

“No, we did not agree to this and will not agree, because NATO troops already exist on the territory of our country: this is the army and the armed forces of Hungary, which are able to guarantee the country's security.

So we do not need additional contingents of troops on the territory of Hungary,” the diplomat said.

At the same time, Szijjarto urged the US, Europe and Russia to continue negotiations to prevent the worst-case scenario, stressing that the countries of Central Europe would lose more if the conflict unfolded.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister added that the current situation around Ukraine reminds him of the times of the Cold War and the long decades of suffering that it brought.

“That's why we don't want to go back to those times.

We ask, we urge the international community to do everything possible to avoid a repeat of the Cold War, to avoid a repeat of even Cold War thinking, because history, unfortunately, has made it very clear to us that in any conflict between East and West, the countries of Central Europe lose, and we no longer want to be among the losers,” he explained.

Péter Szijjártó added that Hungary sees no real threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, but is following with concern the growing tension around this situation.

According to him, the Hungarian side is skeptical about the proposal to introduce new restrictions against Russia, since, as the diplomat noted, it is obvious that these sanctions do not work.

Recall that in early February, negotiations were held in Russia between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, following the meeting, said that Budapest was interested in reducing tensions between Moscow and Western countries.

Consistent position

This is not the first time that Budapest has voiced its position on the deployment of an additional military contingent.

So, on January 28, Peter Szijjarto said at a briefing that the Hungarian side received a request from the United States for the deployment of foreign troops, saying that this issue was being worked out through the Ministry of Defense of the republic.

However, the very next day, the Hungarian defense department announced that there was no need to deploy additional NATO units on the country's territory.

  • Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó

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“Our position is that ... Hungary has already created such a national force, has formed such a national potential that in the current situation there is no need to rely on foreign armed forces and units,” said Defense Minister Tibor Benke.

Recall that on January 24, NATO reported that the alliance is increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe due to the activities of Russia, which allegedly "continues to increase its military presence on the territory of Ukraine and near it."

Thus, the alliance informed that Denmark would send a frigate and four F-16 fighters to Lithuania in the Baltic Sea.

In addition, additional ships left Spain to reinforce the alliance's navy on the eastern flank.

For its part, France announced its readiness to transfer troops under NATO command to Romania.

The Netherlands sent two F-35 fighter jets to Bulgaria and put the ground units of the NATO response force on standby.

Subsequently, the United States also announced the transfer of additional military contingents to Europe.

Thus, units of the American armed forces departed for Romania, Poland and Germany.

In total, the United States has increased the number of its military in Europe by almost 3 thousand soldiers.

In addition, more than 8,000 troops in the United States have been put on high alert to augment the NATO Response Force if needed.

At the same time, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby informed that the US military would not take part in potential hostilities in Ukraine.

Recall that for several months now, the authorities of a number of Western countries and the media have been consistently aggravating the situation around Ukraine, stating that Russia is allegedly planning an “invasion” into the territory of the neighboring republic, for which it is gathering troops to its western border.

Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, calling on the West to stop


this information campaign.

Loss of solidarity

However, analysts remind that not all NATO countries are in solidarity with the escalation policy that the bloc is pursuing against Russia.

“Hungary is one of those countries that take a very critical position in relation to the actions of NATO.

It is no coincidence that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently came to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin - this is Hungary's position on building pragmatic relations with Russia as an important economic and political partner.

In this case, Budapest understands that the increase in conflict with Russia and the escalation of tension are not in the interests of the Hungarian people, ”Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of Moscow State Pedagogical University, emphasized in an interview with RT.

According to him, the geographical position of this country also plays an important role: Hungary is located on the front line of NATO, in sufficient proximity to the borders of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

“I must say that this position is not only taken by Hungary.

Corresponding statements were also made by the officials of Croatia, Slovakia, and I think we will hear more similar statements from the European allies of the United States in NATO, since Europe is finally gradually realizing that, in general, it does not need this conflict at all , and its main beneficiary is overseas, ”the expert emphasized.

He does not rule out that the more the US and NATO distance themselves from reaching a compromise with Russia on the issue of security guarantees in Europe, the more countries will be more critical of Washington's foreign policy line.

“The position of the United States, aimed at further expansion and increased tension in Eastern Europe, does not at all meet the interests of the European peoples, but only leads to a deterioration in the security situation,” says Shapovalov.

In turn, the deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, a member of the Civic Chamber of Russia Nikita Danyuk, in a conversation with RT, recalled that there are still enough states in Europe that do not intend to support Ukraine to the detriment of their interests.

“By its example, Hungary demonstrates that if the country is led by politicians who are guided by national interests, then it is quite possible to resist pressure from Washington,” says Danyuk.

  • Vladimir Putin's talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

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At the same time, as Vladimir Batyuk, chief researcher at the Institute for the USA and Canada, noted in a conversation with RT, the statement by the Hungarian Foreign Minister suggests that there are disagreements within the EU and NATO on a number of issues, including the situation around Ukraine.

“Not everyone supports the anti-Russian line that Washington is promoting in every possible way.

We know the statement of the President of Croatia about the unwillingness of his country to participate in any military conflicts;

France and Germany also have their own position on security in Europe.

The more the United States tries to escalate the situation, creating the preconditions for the emergence of a major conflict in Ukraine, the more those who do not want to enter into confrontation with Russia become, ”Batyuk concluded.