NATO chief says Hungary has agreed not to veto alliance’s assistance to Ukraine
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that Hungary has agreed not to block the military alliance from giving support to Ukraine but that the government in Budapest will not provide any personnel or funds to help the war-ravaged country, Paralel.Az reports citing Associated Press.
At a summit in Washington next month, U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts are expected to agree on a new system for providing more predictable and long-term security and military training assistance to Ukraine.
“Hungary will not participate in these NATO efforts and I accept this position,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Budapest, after talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Stoltenberg said that he and Orban had “agreed modalities for Hungary’s non-participation in NATO’s support for Ukraine.” NATO’s top civilian official did not elaborate on how that would work.
“No Hungarian personnel will take part in these activities and no Hungarian funds will be used to support them,” Stoltenberg said.
“At the same time, the prime minister has assured me that Hungary will not oppose these efforts, enabling other allies to move forward, and he has confirmed that Hungary will continue to meet its NATO commitments in full,” Stoltenberg added.
NATO takes all its decisions by consensus, effectively giving any one of the 32 allies a veto.