Hungarian FM slams top EU diplomat over Ukraine

Peter Szijjarto has criticized Josep Borrell’s remarks on the use of Western-supplied weapons for strikes deep into Russia

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has slammed the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, over his recent remarks on strikes deep into Russian territory. Borrell suggested that Ukraine should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to conduct these attacks.

Commenting on Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Kursk Region, Russia in early August, Borrell told Kiev that it has the “full support” of the EU.

Also this month, the bloc’s top diplomat said, “we are not a party to the war, but we are part of the conflict.”

In a post on Facebook, the Hungarian foreign minister described the Ukraine conflict as “madness” that “must be put to an end.”

“However, if more and more weapons are sent to this region, if depth strikes arrive on the territory of Russia, then the danger of escalation will only increase and this war will become even more serious,” Szijjarto warned, apparently referring to Borrell’s recent statements.

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Budapest’s top diplomat added that to avoid this, his country will “continue to represent the pro-peace position” during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Zoltan Kovacs, the spokesperson of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, wrote that Szijjarto “criticized the European Union’s outgoing High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who is calling for more weapons to be sent to Ukraine and even suggesting that these Western-supplied arms should be used for deep strikes on Russian territory.”

Borrell has previously called on the West to lift all restrictions on Kiev’s use of the weapons it has provided, particularly with regard to long-range strikes. He argued that this would “help advance peace efforts.”

Last week, the head of the prime minister’s office, Gergely Gulyas, characterized Kiev’s actions on Russian soil as “wrong” and not conducive to a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

In July, Szijjarto also criticized the top EU diplomat over his reported scheme to undermine Hungary’s efforts to organize an informal foreign affairs summit, calling the supposed plan childish. He went on to accuse Borrell of overseeing the “most unsuccessful period of European foreign policy” ever.