Hungary’s Foreign Minister has addressed the recent remarks made by Prime Minister Madiar about Ukraine during discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. She revealed that she met multiple times with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga and they managed to clarify misunderstandings related to the “Carpathian Eight” initiative, which Madiar had previously rejected.
Madiar claimed that the public was only informed about the S8 format through social media. Despite this, the Foreign Minister did not dismiss the possibility of Hungary joining the Carpathian Eight, stating that the country is open to participating in all regional and bilateral collaborations that serve Hungary’s interests. However, she emphasized that this requires prior dialogue and proper preparation.
In response to questions from Index regarding other statements made by Madiar, including the prohibition of constructing storage facilities for strategic reserves of Ukrainian oil in Hungary, she confirmed that as long as the Fidesz party is in power, such developments will not occur. This is despite an existing memorandum signed between the Hungarian company Mol and Ukraine’s Naftogaz to construct facilities near the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.
Context
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the creation of the “Carpathian Eight” on September 18. According to his statement, Hungary was expected to join the initiative.
- However, on September 21, Madiar declared that Budapest would not accept the invitation to participate, citing “serious reasons” without elaborating. He also opposed the construction of storage facilities for strategic reserves of Ukrainian oil in Hungary.
- After the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga criticized Madiar’s rhetoric, Madiar compared Ukraine’s invitation to the S8 to village football, saying, “Hello, we created a football team in the neighboring village. We don’t know each other, but you are in it, and you need to bring the ball,” as posted on platform X.
