Hungary: Europe is in catastrophic situation because of Ukraine

It is common people who pay for consequences of the military conflict, and the leaders of the EU countries could not protect them, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said.

The consequences of the armed conflict in Ukraine have created a catastrophic situation in Europe, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said during the Open Balkans summit, Hirado reports.

In his opinion, EU leaders failed to protect ordinary people from paying for the consequences of the military conflict in Ukraine. According to the minister, now one needs to figure out how to mitigate the impact of the hostilities.

Szijjártó stressed that the conflict in Ukraine affected not only the energy market, but also the food supplies. This, in turn, entails an increase in migration flows, and Hungary begins to feel the influx of migrants on its border, he explained.

The head of the Foreign Ministry concluded that the expansion policy should become a priority for the EU, and stressed that the Union needs Western Balkans, if Europe does not want to further worsen its own situation.

In late August, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that the EU would soon face serious difficulties due to sanctions against Russia. At the same time, he stressed that the West "should be ready to pay the price of freedom."

In mid-July, Borrell urged Europe to show strategic patience. Even if sanctions against Russia have not proved to be as effective as the West originally assumed, the effect of the sanctions will come for the Russian economy in the near future.

"We have no other choice. If we let Russia gain the upper hand, we would then let Russia destroy our democracies and the very foundation of the international rules-based world order,” he stated.

Against the backdrop of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, prices on energy resources in Europe and in many other regions of the world have dramatically increased. This, among other things, caused European countries to experience a record inflation in several decades. In the eurozone, the inflation rate has climbed to a record 8.9 percent.