BUDAPEST, August 31. /TASS/. The Hungarian government has demanded from the EU leadership and Ukrainian authorities a detailed report on how exactly the 50-70 billion euros previously allocated to Ukraine were spent, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
On his way to a meeting with EU counterparts in the Spanish city of Toledo, the top diplomat said hat Budapest will not discuss the issue of additional financing of military aid to Ukraine in the EU until it receives such information. He also pointed out that Hungary refuses to talk about allocating new funds to Ukraine because it has not yet removed Hungary's largest bank, OTP, from the list of "international war sponsors."
Szijjarto said that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell would like to discuss in Toledo, privately or possibly together with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, "Hungary's contribution to the provision of tens of billions of euros to Ukraine." However, Hungary does not intend to change its position.
"Of course I will not give in to pressure. As long as we do not receive a detailed, clear report on how the approximately 50-70 billion euros sent to Ukraine were spent, and as long as the OTP Bank is not excluded from the list of so-called international sponsors of war, there can be no question of deciding on additional funds to finance arms or anything else related to Ukraine," the top Hungarian diplomat said in a video message posted on his Facebook page Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by the Russian authorities).
He expressed regret that other ministers at the Toledo meeting are expected to talk about new arms deliveries to Ukraine rather than peace talks. "The voice of peace must be amplified, because it is clear that with every day and with every delivery of arms, the threat of escalation [of hostilities] becomes more serious," Szijjarto warned. "Every day of war and every piece of weaponry delivered to Ukraine kills more and more people, and this is what we want to prevent," the top Hungarian diplomat added.