Karacsony noted on Facebook that "the most destructive war in Europe since the second world war" has been under way for a thousand days.

He said there was no moral or political excuse for Putin-led Russia's total war against Ukraine. "Standing on Ukraine's side cannot be a matter of deliberation or calculation, only a matter of conviction," he added.

Since the first days of the war, Budapest has been "trying to maintain the closest possible cooperation" with international and Hungarian partners that organise humanitarian aid, including the capitals of the Visegrad region, local councils from Transcarpathia and UNICEF, he said.

Ukraine crisis - DefMin: Diplomacy 'only solution' to end war

Diplomacy is the only solution to end the war in Ukraine, Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Tuesday after a meeting of European Union defence ministers in Brussels.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky said Hungary was still being attacked for its "pro-peace" stance calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks. He also called for a strategic debate "as the approach employed so far is not working. Despite weapon deliveries and other military support, the front is moving increasingly swiftly to the west rather than withdrawing towards the east," he said.

The result of the US presidential election may bring "definitive change to policy" and a pro-peace approach, he said.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the war was threatening with escalation "any day".

"As long as there is armed conflict, events can get out of control."

Measures such as moving the EU training of Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine, and member states allowing the country to use weapons delivered by them on Russian territory could also threaten with escalation, he said.

Regarding a recent cyber-attack on Hungary's National Defence Purchase Agency (VBU), the minister said an international team of hackers had stolen data from the company for financial gain. The attack was not perpetrated by a foreign secret service, he said. VBU is a company conducting purchases, and its servers "are not, were not and never will be" connected to the system of the Hungarian Armed Forces or the Defence Ministry, he said.

"The stolen data may violate business confidentiality but does not threaten national security," he said.

"After the incident, we have filed a police report, strengthened cyber-protection and information-security procedures and are closely monitoring the case," Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
 

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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