Gulyás: Country where conscripts are beaten to death is ‘not ready for EU membership'
Gulyás said so far, not all EU member states had aligned themselves with Hungary's 'firm stance'.
'We're also taken aback since the Hungarian man who lost his life was a Ukrainian as well as a Hungarian citizen, so we're talking about a European Union citizen,' he said.
'So Hungary has called on the EU to place those who took part in the man's murder … on the EU sanctions list,' he said, adding that if the EU failed to do so, Hungary would take the case into its own hands, 'and we will take action'.
Gulyás said the case was not an 'isolated problem', and he referred to a Council of Europe human rights report condemning Ukraine's forced conscription practices.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Budapest Times
13 hours ago
- Budapest Times
Final details confirmed for 3% housing loan program, new state support for public employees
Key eligibility criteria include being over 18, having two years of continuous income and social insurance contributions, which may include employment in a neighboring country for Hungarian commuters. Applicants must not have held full ownership of an urban residential property in the past ten years, with partial ownership capped at 50% or HUF 15 million in property value. The loan is capped at HUF 50 million with a fixed 3% interest rate over a maximum of 25 years. It may be used for buying or building new or used homes, including farmhouses. Price limits are set at HUF 100 million for apartments and HUF 150 million for detached homes or rural properties. A 10% down payment is required, and although beneficiaries must reside in Hungary, permanent residence at the purchased property is not mandatory. Usage rights may not be transferred, but rental is permitted. In addition, the government has introduced an annual HUF 1 million housing support for public service employees—such as teachers, doctors, police officers, and soldiers—which can be applied to mortgage payments or down payments. The benefit will be tax-advantaged, aligned with existing cafeteria rules, and final regulations will be determined at next week's cabinet meeting. The cabinet also extended the rural grocery store support program to settlements with under 5,000 residents. All eligible applicants will receive their requested funding, despite demand exceeding available funds by over HUF 6 billion. Addressing international affairs, Minister Gulyás strongly criticized the recently announced EU-U.S. customs agreement. He argued the deal contradicts Europe's strategic and economic interests, stating that if Hungary had negotiated independently, it would have secured better terms. He criticized the European Commission for overstepping its mandate by committing to investment concessions without proper authorization and labeled the agreement as an example of 'unauthorized administration of power' that also binds the EU to obligations it cannot fulfill.
Budapest Times
2 days ago
- Budapest Times
Fidesz-KDNP call for release of ‘secret clause' in EU-US deal
MEPs of Hungary's ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance said on Tuesday that the recent agreement between the European Union and the United States is 'catastrophic' and 'serves as further proof that the Brussels bureaucracy has turned its back on the interests of European families and businesses', adding that the deal 'contains a secret clause promoting Ukraine's interests'. The deal under which the US would impose a 15 percent tariff on European products and the EU would buy energy worth 750 billion euros from the US alongside European companies investing a further 600 billion euros in the US, 'would make Europe's people and businesses pay exorbitant prices for energy rather than increase Europe's energy independence,' the MEPs said, insisting that the new agreement was 'another act of betrayal'. 'It is totally absurd that Brussels bureaucrats, without any authorisation, commit to stellar investments on behalf of European companies rather than work to assist those businesses and improve their competitiveness,' the statement said. Concerning the 'secret clause', they said it was aimed at providing further military aid to Ukraine and prolonging the war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and 'the Brussels leadership want to continue financing the war at the expense of European taxpayers and without consulting voters,' the statement said. The MEPs demanded the immediate release of the document. The MEPs also slammed Von der Leyen's reelection as EC head, 'supported by the left-liberal grand coalition', including the European People's Party and Hungary's opposition Tisza Party. 'We won't let Brussels drive the continent to war and ignore the will and interests of Europeans. Brussels is in need of an urgent change of leadership,' the MEPs added.
Budapest Times
2 days ago
- Budapest Times
Szijjártó: Two key world political figures trounced von der Leyen in a single week
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said two key world political figures trounced President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in a single week. The foreign minister added that multiple tariffs must be paid for European goods in the US from now on, while von der Leyen had been afforded a greeting in China more in line with the arrival of a tourist than an official representative of the bloc. 'The European Union is basically now the butt of humiliation and ridicule in world politics,' a ministry statement quoted him as saying. No one, he added, could afford to speak about Donald Trump or Chinese leaders, as many European politicians had done, in a demeaning way without bearing the consequences. He said crude and vulgar comments about Trump had 'backfired', adding that tariffs of 2.5 percent on European cars and other goods would now rise to 15 percent. Minister Szijjártó said it was shameful 'that such a person represents the European Union'. Meanwhile, the minister expressed hope that a rift would not develop between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'The world has become a safer place since the American and Russian presidents started talking to each other,' he said. Minister Szijjártó accused Western European leaders of attempting to undermine US peace efforts, calling such efforts 'extremely irresponsible and criminal'. Had Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Western European politicians 'not hindered' Trump's efforts, the settlement of the war might be 'much closer', he added. He said Western European leaders had turned the war in Ukraine into a global problem, 'and even a European war'. Referring to the 'Hungarian peace mission' last summer, he said most of his EU counterparts had savaged him for trying to promote a ceasefire and peace negotiations. 'Donald Trump has solved things in the rest of the world, but in Europe … they are trying to suppress and shame normal, conservative, patriotic, peace-loving politicians,' he said. Minister Szijjártó said that as long as a national government was in power, Hungary would be a good place to live. But if a 'puppet government at the mercy of Brussels comes to power', there would no longer be a government to fight Hungary's corner against 26 EU member states.
