Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó condemned the Ukrainian government’s decision to summon the Hungarian ambassador to Kyiv in protest against Budapest’s refusal to support European Union financial assistance to the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Szijjártó emphasized that Hungary will not send taxpayers’ money to Ukraine as long as a sovereign and national government remains in power in Budapest. ‘We have a right to decide how Hungarian people’s money is spent…[it] belongs in Hungary, it should be used to develop Hungary and strengthen Hungarian families,’ the foreign minister said.
Szijjártó added that the government’s stance is a defence of Hungary’s national priorities, warning against what he described as the ‘squandering of the future of our youth’ by sending funds to Ukraine. He said Kyiv’s decision to summon Hungary’s ambassador followed Budapest’s public refusal to support a planned €90 billion EU financing package for Ukraine.
Szijjártó criticized Ukraine’s diplomatic move as ‘a very harsh interference in Hungary’s internal affairs’. The foreign minister reaffirmed Budapest’s rejection of the proposed EU funding mechanism, insisting that Hungary will not participate in financing Ukraine over the next decade.
The minister also accused Kyiv of taking additional steps perceived as unfriendly, including indicating restrictions on visits by Hungarian government officials to Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region. Szijjártó described these moves as contrary to European values and norms, alleging that they are intended to impede official contacts between Hungarian authorities and the Hungarian minority in the region.
Hungarian–Ukrainian relations have deteriorated at an extremely rapid pace since the war broke out in 2022. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has advocated for peace and rejected both military and financial support for Kyiv, while also blocking Ukraine’s accelerated EU membership. With Hungary’s parliamentary election scheduled for April approaching, tensions between the two leaderships are expected to intensify further, as Orbán’s opposition is campaigning on a pro-EU, pro-war, and pro-Ukraine platform and is expected to lift Hungary’s veto on Kyiv’s EU accession, as well as military and financial support for Ukraine, if elected.
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