Hungary has agreed not to veto NATO assistance to Ukraine, alliance chief says

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg struck the deal on Wednesday after a day of “difficult” negotiations.

Transcript

00:00Hungary will not block NATO decisions on Ukraine, Viktor Orban announced in Budapest after talks

00:06with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

00:08But the Prime Minister said the agreement would still allow Hungary not to participate

00:12in Ukraine's support.

00:14Hungary made it clear that it does not want and cannot change the decision of 31 other

00:23member states.

00:24And we are happy that NATO, through NATO's chief secretary, has taken into account that

00:31Hungary wants to fully use the space that NATO's basic rules have provided for it.

00:37According to Stoltenberg, the issues surrounding support for Ukraine have been clarified.

00:44Prime Minister Orban has made it clear that Hungary will not participate in these NATO

00:51efforts.

00:52And I accept this position.

00:55And I'm glad that today the Prime Minister and I have agreed on modalities for Hungary's

01:02non-participation in NATO's support for Ukraine.

01:06No Hungarian personnel will take part in these activities and no Hungarian funds will be

01:13used to support them.

01:14But according to press reports, members of the Bucharest Nine, a group of NATO member

01:19states from Central and Eastern Europe, are considering expelling Hungary for systematically

01:23vetoing positions on Ukraine.

01:25This was not mentioned at the press conference.