Authorities in Hungary Suddenly Announce That They Do Not Oppose the Transit of Weapons to Ukraine

Levente Magyar, Hungary’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday, during his visit to Lviv, that Budapest is ready to allow all aid provided by other countries to Ukraine, including military aid, to pass through its territory.

"Unlike many Western partners, we have experienced for ourselves what it is like to confront this huge Eastern state. At the same time, Hungary itself will not supply weapons — this is our strategic position. However, third countries can use our territory," Magyar assured, reports the press service of the Lviv City Council.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also said that Hungary is ready to accept Ukrainian children in its sanatoriums and camps, has offered to help treat civilians and military personnel in its medical facilities, and has confirmed that it is ready to provide 1,000 scholarships for Ukrainians at its universities.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Hungary has repeatedly stated that they will not provide weapons to Ukraine in order not to become a party to the conflict with Russia, and that they would not allow the transit of weapons through its territory. However, such transit is in fact taking place, and the "transit ban" applies only to such supplies crossing the border between Hungary and Ukraine.

At the beginning of July, in an interview with CNN, Peter Szijjártó, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that Hungary refused to participate in the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine, in order not to expose Hungarians living in Zakarpattia Oblast to the danger of Russian shelling. Tibor Tompa, head of the Hungarian community in Kyiv, condemned Sijjarto's words.