Hungarian Foreign Minister: We do not need additional NATO troops in Hungary

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó told Euronews that the country would not agree to the deployment of additional NATO troops on its territory.

He noted that any conflict between the West and the East turns into serious problems for Central Europe. Hungary, according to Szijjártó, fears a new Cold War and therefore favors a diplomatic settlement of differences with Moscow:

“We must do our best to avoid the worst case scenario. We must invest in diplomacy. We must invest in dialogue. That is why we urge, we ask the Russian Federation and our Western allies, big countries, strong countries not to lose hope for a peaceful settlement.

Unlike a number of other countries in Eastern Europe, Hungary refused to deploy additional NATO forces on its territory amid Russian-Ukrainian tensions. According to Peter Szijjártó, Budapest sees no point in this:

“No, we did not agree to this and will not agree, because we already have NATO troops on the territory of the country – this is the Hungarian army and the armed forces of Hungary, which are in proper shape to guarantee the security of the country. So we don’t need additional troops on the territory of Hungary.”