Scandal over Szijjártó’s false claims: Hungarian diplomat summoned again for second time in one day
Photo: Peter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (Getty Images)
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry summoned Hungary’s chargé d’affaires for the second time in one day following the false claims made by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó, states Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi in a comment to journalists.
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"Since Minister Szijjártó spread false claims and completely distorted the content of the meeting with Hungary’s chargé d’affaires at Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, the Hungarian diplomat was summoned again to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," he said.
Tykhyi noted that during the second meeting, which took place just a few hours after the first one, the diplomat was warned about the inadmissibility of misrepresenting the substance of the talks, "with the faint hope that this time Budapest will receive an undistorted message."
According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, the Ukrainian side gave no signals during the meetings that "the resumption of oil supplies toward Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline had been blocked for political reasons."
He stressed that the subject of the discussion was statements by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán regarding potential threats to Hungary’s critical energy infrastructure.
Tykhyi added that the Hungarian side was informed that Ukraine is ready to provide assistance to Hungary in protecting its facilities.
"The Ukrainian side proposed activating operational channels for information exchange and coordination between the relevant authorities of both countries responsible for the protection of critical infrastructure. Of course, if Orbán’s statements are based on facts rather than fantasies," he said.
What preceded this
Today, February 26, Peter Szijjártó claimed that Ukraine was allegedly demanding money and weapons supplies in exchange for restoring the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline. His remarks came after Hungary’s chargé d’affaires in Ukraine had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
He stated that the Ukrainians had allegedly admitted that the pipelines were "closed for political reasons." According to him, Ukraine supposedly acknowledged that there were "no physical or technical reasons" preventing the restoration.
