2023-05-12 13:57:00
The Foreign Ministry in Budapest is the only EU country to criticize the Swedish EU Presidency’s document denouncing human rights violations in Belarus.
According to Hungarian media reports, Hungary is the only EU country to refuse to sign the Union’s declaration condemning human rights violations in Belarus, the online portal “Telex.hu” reported on Thursday evening. The document, released by the Swedish EU Presidency on behalf of 26 EU member states, is based on the report of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which was presented in Vienna on Thursday.
The report strongly criticizes legal changes since the crackdown on protests against President Alexander Lukashenko’s 2020 re-election, which was considered rigged, and points to the “politically motivated repression” of the Minsk regime. “The Belarusian government now has a full legal arsenal designed to thwart any form of opposition,” says the report.
Hungary: EU must focus on peace in the neighborhood
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry justified the refusal to sign the document with the war in the Ukraine. In times of war, the European Union must concentrate all its strength on ensuring that peace prevails all the more in the neighborhood of the community, the online portal quoted. According to the reaction of the Foreign Ministry in Budapest, such political declarations would close the communication channels that are essential for the start of the peace negotiations and thus diminish the hope for peace.
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