FM: Government will push EU to take joint stance on violent forced conscription
Speaking at a press conference on another matter held together with his Moroccan counterpart in Budapest, Minister Szijjártó called it 'shocking' that the international community 'looked away as brutal, violent conscriptions in Ukraine are coming to light'. 'If a tenth of this happened elsewhere, the EU would rush to condemn it.'
Minister Szijjártó insisted that conscription in Ukraine was often tantamount to 'man hunts'. 'We have seen the videos… untrained people, who are often unable and unfit to serve, are abducted in front of their families and small children and forced into serving on the fronts,' the Hungarian foreign minister said.
'They are beating people to death … for not wanting to go to war, and don't want to be party to a massacre lacking all rationality. This is unacceptable. This is all happening in the heart of Europe, and European politicians pretend nothing is happening,' he said.
Minister Szijjártó pledged he would table the issue at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Tuesday, and call for a stance on 'whether Brussels sees violent and brutal forced conscription as acceptable.'
He said he saw what's happening in Ukraine as 'going against human rights, international law and fundamental human values.'
'We naturally stand by the Hungarian victims and their families. We are making contact [with families] constantly, and we will do everything in our power, as always in these cases, to help the families…'
Regarding US weapon deliveries to Ukraine, Minister Szijjártó said, 'No one has done more for peace than President Donald Trump, whose efforts could have been much more successful had European and Ukrainian leaders not hindered them.'
At the same time, he said the fact that the US and Russian foreign ministers had talked 'for nearly an hour over the phone last week' was a 'good sign'. 'I honestly hope that peace efforts will continue. Peace is in all our interests,' Minister Szijjártó said.
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