Hungary's new PM: Russia is a threat, but Russian people are not

Hungary's incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said it is obvious that Russia poses a threat to Europe, and has described past contacts between Hungarian and Russian foreign ministers as unacceptable.

Source: Péter Magyar at a press conference in Budapest, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In response to a question on whether he considers Russia a threat, Magyar answered unequivocally.

"Yes! I believe so, and I think everyone understands that," he said.

However, he immediately added that this applies only to Russia's leadership, not to Russian society as a whole. "And I am not speaking about Russian people or Russian culture," he said.

Magyar also recalled that Hungary has faced the Russian threat repeatedly over the past century, including twice in the 20th century. "We felt it in the 1920s and in 1956 – we know what it is like," he said.

He separately stressed that he considers it especially unacceptable that current Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó allegedly shared information from an EU meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"Even in football, I cannot go into the other team's locker room and explain our game plan. And it is even more unacceptable that Russian spies enter the Foreign Ministry," he added.

Background:

• Earlier, Magyar described how Viktor Orbán congratulated him on his election victory.
• The incoming prime minister has also outlined his vision of Hungary's relations with Russia going forward.

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