Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, he agreed on the format of cooperation regarding Budapest's non-blocking of Alliance decisions regarding Ukraine. Orbán said this at a press conference with the Secretary General of NATO in Budapest on Wednesday, European Pravda reports.
So, Orbán said that at the meeting they reviewed relations between Hungary and NATO.
According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, "everyone knows that Hungary's position on the Russian-Ukrainian war differs from the position of most NATO countries." But he thanked the NATO Secretary General that Budapest was always "allowed" to express its unique opinion.
"Hungary has made it clear that it has no intention of blocking any decisions within NATO that may differ from what we believe to be our analysis of the situation. What we focused on at today's meeting ... is that any operations outside (NATO) should be voluntary and Hungary has been given the guarantees it requires," Orbán said.
He added that such an agreement meets the request of the Hungarian society, which "gave the government a mandate not to participate in the war" during the elections to the European Parliament.
The NATO Secretary General, for his part, said that he and Orbán "approved the modality for Hungary not to participate in NATO's support for Ukraine," which the Alliance plans to provide in the future. Orbán said that Hungary would not take part in this NATO effort, and Stoltenberg "accepted this position".
"No Hungarian personnel will participate in this activity, and no Hungarian finances will be used to support it. At the same time, the Prime Minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose this effort and will allow other allies to move forward," Stoltenberg said.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, previously Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán explained why Budapest does not want to see Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the post of NATO Secretary General. He also said after what his country is ready to support his candidacy.
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