Hungary does not want NATO to become an “anti-China” bloc, and will not support this, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, Szijjarto also said Ukraine’s admission to the military alliance would weaken unity in the group.
In a draft of the final communique of the NATO summit in Washington, China is described as a crucial country facilitating Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, while underlining that Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Europe and security.
China has called the communique one-sided and “inciting discord”.
“NATO is a defense alliance… we cannot make it a bloc against China,” Szijjarto told Hungarian television, responding to a question about NATO’s efforts to build the Indo-Pacific alliance.
China is an important trade and investment partner for Hungary. Other European Union member states aim to become less dependent on Beijing.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday to discuss a possible peace deal in Ukraine, following visits to Kiev and Moscow.
His visit to Moscow and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin angered some EU leaders as the bloc seeks to avoid high-level contacts with Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
At the NATO summit, leaders pledged support for Ukraine, while the draft communique reiterated support for Ukraine on its path to NATO membership.
“Ukraine’s admission would not strengthen it, but would weaken the unity of the alliance, because there are completely different positions on its membership,” said Szijjarto.
According to him, Ukraine’s membership could create a risk of opening a conflict between Russia and NATO.
