Hungary has always abstained from voting on weapons supplies to Ukraine, but as long as the largest Hungarian bank, OTP, is included in Kyiv's list of "international sponsors of the war," it will vote against it, said Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, according to RIA News.
"We demand that Ukrainian authorities remove OTP from this characterization and remove it from the list. Until this happens, we will not support EU payments for weapon supplies to Ukraine," stated Szijjarto during a press conference alongside Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, who serves as the co-chair of the Russian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission.
According to Szijjarto, Hungary holds the position that weapon supplies prolong the conflict.
"That's why we have never agreed to weapon supplies and we do not supply weapons. We have always constructively abstained from decisions on allocating funds from the European Peace Fund for weapon supplies to Ukraine because we believed that if others want to do it, let them do it. But we will not abstain constructively until OTP is on that list. The Hungarian Foreign Minister emphasized that Hungary is "not interested in what Moscow, Washington, and Brussels think about it because it concerns Hungarian national interests," Szijjarto noted.
Earlier, the Ukrainian National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) reported that it included the Hungarian "OTP Bank Group" in the list of international "sponsors of the war" due to alleged preferential financing of Russian military.
The Extra-budgetary European Peace Facility (EPF) was established by the EU in March 2021 to enhance the ability to prevent conflicts and strengthen international security. The Fund was designed to provide around 5.7 billion euros for the period 2021-2027. However, a significant portion of the funds from this facility has already been reserved to partially compensate EU member states for the expenses incurred in providing military assistance to Ukraine. Previously, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, proposed allocating an additional billion euros to finance ammunition supplies to Ukraine using the fund's resources.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Hungary has consistently opposed sanctions on Russian energy carriers and the shipment of weapons to Ukraine. In March 2022, the Hungarian Parliament issued a decree prohibiting the delivery of weapons to Ukraine from its territory. Szijjarto explained that Budapest aims to secure the territory of Zakarpattia, where ethnic Hungarians live, as weapon supplies through its territory would make it a legitimate military target. The country's leadership has repeatedly emphasized that Hungary advocates for the prompt initiation of peaceful negotiations.
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