BUDAPEST, May 31. /TASS/. Hungary will not take any part in the alliance’s "mission" in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after taking part in a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Prague.
Having recalled that NATO plans to expand its coordinating role in terms of military assistance to Ukraine and training its soldiers, the top Hungarian diplomat said, "We will not take part in long-term financing of this project." He noted that during the meeting in Prague two more countries, apart from Hungary, insisted on making diplomatic efforts toward settling the Ukrainian conflict but "did not speak negatively about the mission."
According to Szijjarto, Hungary doesn’t want to have anything to do with this initiative, despite the fact that other NATO member countries are in favor of this. "We reject the possibility of our participation in this mission," the M1 television channel quoted him as saying at a meeting with Hungarian journalists in Prague. "We don’t want Hungarian soldiers to take part in this mission. We don’t want such operations to be held on Hungary’s territory. And we don’t want Hungarian taxpayers’ money to be spent on this."
He stressed that his country will continue its efforts "to keep away from this mission and, hence, from the war."