BUDAPEST, July 15. /TASS/. The Hungarian government regards the strengthening of NATO's coordinating role in arms supplies to Ukraine as a dangerous adventure that could lead to a military clash with Russia, Balazs Orban, Political Director of the Hungarian prime minister and his namesake, said in comments on the decisions made at the Alliance’s summit in Washington on July 9 to 11.
"The NATO mission for Ukraine is an adventure that does not facilitate security in the region but undermines it, because nobody knows when this will escalate into a direct conflict between NATO and Russia. We would definitely like to stay away from that," Balazs Orban told Magyar Nemzet newspaper. He reiterated that Hungary would not be a party to coordinating arms deliveries and training Ukrainian servicemen, nor does it support the initiative to earmark funds for these purposes agreed by other NATO member states at the meeting in Washington.
In general, the prime minister's political director believes that NATO is starting to get away from its original mission, sticking its nose where it doesn't belong. The organization was created 75 years ago as a defense alliance to ensure the collective security of its members within their national territories. Now, however, "NATO is trying to force member states to take joint action in many areas," Balazs Orban said.
"They want us to have a common security doctrine in the Pacific or a common doctrine on how we trade with non-NATO countries. These issues should not be part of NATO's agenda. If we turn a defense alliance into an organization that supports the blockade and the logic of the new Cold War, which, moreover, regularly conducts active military operations outside of its own territory, we will face major problems in the coming decades," the adviser cautioned.
He noted that this is exactly what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told leaders of other countries during the NATO summit in Washington. "This is the message we want to bring home to our allies," the political director said.