On Saturday, May 14, The inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President of the country Catalina Novak took place in Hungary. Among other things, she outlined 10 points regarding Hungaryʼs position on the war in Ukraine.
The local newspaper Telex quotes her words:
- "We condemn Putinʼs aggression, the armed attack on a sovereign state."
- "We will forever say no to all efforts to rebuild the Soviet Union."
- "We Hungarians want peace here and in neighboring countries. We want peace, not war."
- "This is not our war, but we demand an investigation and punishment for war crimes."
- "We are not neutral. We are on the side of innocent victims and the truth. We are fulfilling our commitments within the framework of the EU-NATO alliance, and if Hungarian interests so wish, we will say no. "
- "We are by no means ready to relinquish our sovereignty, for which we have fought many times, and we are constantly developing our defense forces."
- "We support Ukraineʼs accession to the EU."
- "We are ready to sacrifice for the sake of peace, and we will not interfere with the help of our allies, but we will not agree to decisions that require more sacrifices from the Hungarians than the damage they inflict on the Russian aggressor."
- "We are ready to be mediators between the warring parties."
- "We insist on ensuring the rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine."
Catalina Novak was appointed President of the Hungarian Parliament in March. Previously, she served as Minister for the Family in Viktor Orbánʼs government. She is the first woman to become president in the countryʼs history.
- Hungary is blocking the sixth package of sanctions against Russia. The country opposes the EUʼs renunciation of Russian oil, despite this measure is postponement for Hungary and Slovakia until 2024. Negotiations between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Viktor Orban on this issue have been fruitless.
- Recently, Orban even put forward territorial claims to Croatia, explaining his position on the oil embargo.
- According to Politico, the EU is already considering compensating Hungary if it supports new sanctions against Russia, including an oil embargo.