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POZIRK+Reprisals: Minsk keeps cracking down on freedom of expression
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Hungarian FM claims US interfered in Belarus’, Hungary’s elections
June 3, Pozirk. US organizations spent “tens of millions of dollars” to help the Hungarian opposition and media during the parliamentary election in 2022, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told ONT in an interview broadcast on Sunday evening.
The diplomat, who visited Minsk last week, also agreed with the host’s statement that the same mechanism was allegedly used during the 2020 presidential election in Belarus.
“We have to defend our sovereignty because such interference is a direct attack on independence,” Szijjártó said, noting that the Hungarian opposition and media outlets continue to receive foreign funding.
NGOs, liberal groups and other similar actors should not be allowed to decide the future of states, the diplomat stressed.
The Hungarian foreign minister came under fire from Belarusian opposition politicians over his Minsk visit.
“Shameful to see Hungary’s Foreign Minister coming to Belarus as these visits become regular,” Franak Viačorka, an aide to the Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja said on X.
High-level visits by Hungarian officials to Minsk are “hypocritical” because they legitimize political reprisals in Belarus and undermine the European Union’s effort to isolate [Alaksandar] Łukašenka’s regime, he noted.
Szijjártó had an “exclusively pragmatic agenda,” ignoring the ongoing political crackdown in Belarus, Valeryj Kavaleŭski of the opposition transition cabinet told Pozirk on May 29, when the diplomat arrived in Minsk.
Hungary is the only EU member to maintain official contacts with the Belarusian government, accused of human rights abuse.
Budapest joined the EU sanctions against Minsk, but Hungarian officials have repeatedly stated their opposition to that policy.
Last September, Alaksandar Łukašenka accepted credentials from Hungary’s Zita Bencsik, the only EU ambassador to present credentials to the Belarusian ruler after 2020.
Szijjártó visited Minsk twice last year: in February and October, aiming to promote dialogue, economic cooperation and educational and cultural exchanges.
Hungary's top diplomat offers Minsk cooperation in areas not covered by EU sanctions
May 29, Pozirk. Budapest is interested in closer ties with Belarus in agriculture, industry, pharmaceuticals and food security, areas that are not covered by the European Union’s restrictions, Belarusian state-run media report, citing Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. The Hungarian …
