Politicians in the country would send arms and troops to Ukraine, putting Hungarians at risk of war.

In recent weeks, the Hungarian Left’s candidate for prime minister has sparked a huge outcry in the country by repeatedly saying he would send arms and Hungarian troops to Ukraine. The leftist politician has been widely criticised for his remarks and many called on him to stop making irresponsible statements that could endanger Hungary.

Now Andras Fekete-Gyor, a member and former chair of the Momentum party – also part of the leftist opposition alliance-, has spoken about sending arms to Ukraine.

“In the current situation, a responsible Hungarian government should work to prevent war. We need a policy of deterrence,” Mr Fekete-Gyor wrote to the leftist propaganda paper Magyar Hang, adding that

“First of all – like our allies – we must offer arms and humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian government, to contribute to the protection of the Hungarian minority living in Transcarpathia.” In other words,

he would fight against the war by sending arms to the Ukrainian forces battling the Russian army, putting the ethnic Hungarians of Transcarpathia and the whole of Hungary at risk,

the Hungarian news portal Origo pointed out.

Earlier, Peter Marki-Zay, the prime ministerial hopeful of the opposition alliance led by failed Socialist ex-PM Ferenc Gyurcsany, also said he would send troops and arms to Ukraine.

In an interview with leftist activist and talk show host Marton Gulyas, Mr Marki-Zay said that “we would be very happy to help” with whatever means the NATO alliance system allows. When asked if he would send Hungarian soldiers, he said:

“If NATO so decides then even troops.”

Peter Marki-Zay’s remark is all the more shocking as no NATO country is sending troops to Ukraine, because it is not a member of the alliance. Even the United States has made clear several times that it will not be sending military units, and such a move could put Hungary in serious danger. On Tuesday evening, Mr Marki-Zay also said on ATV’s programme “Egyenes beszed” (Straight Talk) that he would send arms to Ukraine, as did Mr Fekete-Gyor. Talking to ATV, Mr Marki-Zay said that

Hungary must also implement NATO’s joint decisions. So, if NATO decides to support Ukraine with weapons, then of course we will also support this decision.

The Left’s prime ministerial candidate reiterated to a German newspaper this week that he would send arms to Ukraine.

While the Hungarian Left wants to drag Hungary into the war, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly stated that they would not allow Hungary to be drawn into this war.

Csaba Domotor, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, criticised Gyurcsany’s candidate in a programme on Hungarian public radio, saying that no party politics considerations and no campaign interests can be more important than the security of Hungarians.

A recent survey by the Szazadveg Institute published on Sunday also showed that Hungarians believe that the country should stay away from the war, with 9 out of 10 Hungarians saying that Hungary should not be driven into armed conflict.