Hungary responds to Zelenski that it does not allow Ukraine to pass weapons through his country

Budapest, 25 Mar The Hungarian Government reiterated today that it will not allow weapons for Ukraine to pass through its territory because it does not want to get involved in the war, after last night the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, asked at the Alliance meeting why Hungary prevents the transport of war material. “The President of Ukraine asked Hungary and Prime Minister (Viktor) Orbán to do two things. First extend sanctions on the energy sector and allow arms to be sent to Ukraine. The Prime Minister rejected both requests,” Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács reported today. Kovács reiterated that Hungary does not want to be involved in the war, so it will not allow lethal weapons to be transported around the country to Ukraine and stressed that “turning off the oil and gas taps would mean that Hungarian families would pay the price of war.” “You have to decide for yourself who you are with,” Zelenski, who participated by videoconference at the summit of the leaders of the European Union (EU), told Orbán yesterday, clearly alluding to the Hungarian leader's good harmony with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenski compared the current situation in the bombed Ukrainian city of Mariupol to the massacres of Jews in Hungary at the end of World War II. “I was in Budapest (...) and saw the memorial 'Shoes on the Danube Bank', in memory of the persecution of the Hungarian fascist group Cross Arrow against the Jews, said the Ukrainian leader. “Look at those shoes. And you will see how mass murders can happen again in today's world. And that is what Russia is doing today. The same shoes. In Mariupol, there are the same people,” Zelenski said. “(In this situation) do you have doubts about introducing sanctions? Do you hesitate whether or not you let weapons pass through the country? Do you have doubts about trading with Russia or not?” asked the Ukrainian president, addressing his words directly to Orbán, assuring that “there is no time to doubt”. The Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, also reacted today to Zelensky's words, stating that he understands that the most important thing for the Ukrainian president is the safety of the people of Ukraine, but added that for the Hungarian government “the most important thing is the safety of the Hungarians”. 85% of Hungarian households use Russian gas as heating and 64% of Hungarian oil imports come from Russia, recalled the Hungarian government, which is one of the EU countries that opposes the Russian gas supply cut as part of sanctions against Russia.