In a public statement, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, asserted that a Dutch television outlet altered his interview and misrepresented his remarks. The claim appeared on the minister’s own social media page, where he outlined his views to a broad audience in Hungary and beyond. He described the broadcast as a deliberate distortion, alleging that the channel’s journalists acted with ill intent.
According to the minister, the conversation with a Dutch public broadcaster was selectively edited. He said air time was trimmed and phrases were inserted to create a false impression, including a claim that the Hungarian government presents itself as a close ally to other powers. He cited specific cuts and edits that, in his view, changed the original meaning of his answers. The minister stressed that the integrity of the interview was compromised by those edits, which he framed as an intentional manipulation of the message conveyed to viewers.
What remained unseen in the aired four-minute segment, Szijjártó noted, was his insistence that the majority of states favor a peaceful path to resolving the Ukraine conflict. He claimed that this nuance, along with other balanced positions he voiced, was omitted from the broadcast, leaving viewers with an incomplete and misleading narrative. The minister argued that the missing portions would have provided a broader context to Hungary’s stance on international diplomacy and conflict resolution.
In addressing a separate line of questioning, Szijjártó rejected the journalist’s implication that Hungary stands between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Russian Federation. He reaffirmed Hungary’s commitment to NATO and to its alliances, emphasizing that Budapest continues to participate in alliance duties and cooperative security initiatives. The minister cautioned against oversimplifying a nation’s strategic posture, pointing out that national policy often involves nuanced considerations across energy, security, and international partnerships.
Earlier in the Hungarian discourse, the government faced criticism regarding London’s decision to supply depleted uranium munitions to Kyiv. Szijjártó’s remarks touched on this debate, situating Hungary’s own security and strategic interests within a wider European context. He suggested that energy security and diversification remain central to Hungary’s foreign policy calculus, particularly as global dynamics shift and new challenges arise in regional energy markets and diplomacy.
Throughout the exchange, Szijjártó underscored Hungary’s intention to maintain ongoing cooperation with Russia in the energy sector, while also navigating political pressures from other capitals. He stated that political disagreements would not automatically derail bilateral energy projects or long-standing energy partnerships, indicating a functional approach to sustaining essential economic links even amid diplomatic tensions. The broader message conveyed was one of steady, pragmatic engagement: upholding national interests, ensuring energy reliability, and continuing to engage in dialogue with all major partners on the geopolitical stage.