Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has accused Ukraine of “grossly” interfering in Hungary’s democratic process. Szijjártó said Kyiv continues to block vital Russian oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline, which he said is a politically motivated attempt to undermine the government just 58 days before the parliamentary elections.
According to the minister, there are no technical or mechanical obstacles preventing the resumption of transit; rather, it is a deliberate “political decision” by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The goal, Szijjártó said, is to jeopardize Hungary’s energy security to put the incumbent government in an unfavorable position.
Minister Szijjártó said Kyiv’s actions serve the interests of the largest opposition party, Tisza. He warned that a victory for the opposition would mean Hungary being “dragged into the war,” the diversion of Hungarian taxpayers’ money to Ukraine, and the approval of Ukraine’s EU membership.
“We say no to being dragged into the war, no to sending our money to Ukraine, and no to Ukraine’s EU membership,” he declared.
Just two days ago, conservative think tank MCC Brussels announced the launch of the Democracy Interference Observatory (DIO), a new initiative aimed at exposing and analyzing how the European Union and EU-linked actors influence national elections across Europe. The observatory will begin with a close look at Hungary’s April 12th parliamentary elections, the first test case in a wider monitoring program.
