Szijjártó said on Facebook on Wednesday that the “attacks” on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s peace mission to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Florida had “failed”.

Orbán’s visits were followed by talks between the defence ministers of the US and Russia, the foreign ministers of Switzerland and Russia, the foreign ministers of the US and China, while the prime ministers of Italy and Ukraine travelled to Beijing, and the Ukrainian president called former US President Donald Trump by phone, he added.

Szijjártó also insisted that Brussels’ “mask slipped” as it had failed to conceal its enthusiasm for the Ukrainian measures that resulted in two European Union member states, including Hungary, facing severe energy supply risks due to the oil taps being shut off.

The minister said that after these “two failures”, Brussels bureaucrats had come forward “with another lie” suggesting that Hungary was letting spies from Russia and Belarus into the EU.



Szijjártó: Suggestion Hungary Letting Russian, Belarusian Spies into EU 'Complete Lie'

Hungary has “already clearly explained to the representatives of Baltic states” why the suggestion by “Brussels bureaucrats” that Hungary was letting spies from Russia and Belarus into the European Union was “a complete lie, but it appears that facts do not bother either them or Manfred Weber”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.

“The EPP president’s Hungarophobia is known far afield: he’s in a huff about Hungarians and is unable to accept that he could not become the European Commission president,” Szijjártó said on Facebook.

“And it’s easy to see that he is frustrated by the stronger-than-expected unity of real right-wing parties in the EP,” he added.

Szijjártó said Weber “must obviously know” that every EU member state carries out for itself all the procedures linked to third-country citizens’ residency, employment and visa affairs.

“These procedures in Hungary are strict, comprehensive and give absolute priority to national security interests,” he said.

Kovács: National Card Applicants Required to Undergo 'Same Screening As in Case of Any Other Residence Permit'

Applicants for Hungary’s National Card will go through “the same migration and security screenings as applicants for any other residence permit,” the state secretary for government communications said on Facebook.

Zoltán Kovács responded to European concerns suggesting that the Hungarian programme could offer “easy access for Russian and Belarusian spies”, and dismissed suggestions of Hungary hosting such spies as “fiction”.

Kovács said the cards could be obtained for a stay between 90 days and two years, for employment purposes, adding that the applicant was required to have an employer and an actual position. Holders of the card need to reapply if they change their job, he added.

The state secretary also noted that the National Card programme had been in place “for quite some time”, yet, it had not received criticism from the EU.

“If it was all right earlier, why are we getting attacked now, while the regulations and the practice have been unchanged?” he asked.

Citing Eurostat figures, Kovács said over 718,000 Russian citizens had been staying in the EU in January 2023, with fewer than one percent of that group in Hungary, adding that “the same ratio” applied to Belarusian nationals.

In view of those figures “Brussels’ worries about Russian spies in Hungary” seem “a bit unrealistic”.

He also added that “huge masses of Russians” lived in the Baltic states, which he said were “most critical of Hungary’s National Card system and the alleged risks around it”.

Hungary Hits Back At Baltic And Nordic Critics Of Visa Scheme for Russians And Belarusians



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