The Ukraine war can only be ended with diplomatic means

Speaking to the Hungarian press, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that Hungary is still under attack due to its pro-peace position. The Hungarian position is that of peace, which emphasizes the need for immediate ceasefire and the start of peace talks. The minister underlined that we must choose the way of diplomacy in the interest of ending the war in Ukraine.

The defence minister stated that there is a need for a strategic debate, because the approach used so far does not work. Despite weapons deliveries and all other forms of military support, the front is not moving towards the east, but is rather shifting westwards at an accelerated pace, the minister pointed out.

He told the press that as a result of the presidential election in the USA, a definite change is expected to take place with regard to the Ukraine war, so the pro-peace position may prevail. He stated that the escalation of the war is an everyday danger. He warned that as long as there is open armed conflict, events may slip out of control. Furthermore, he drew attention to the danger of escalation carried by the possible relocation of the EU training mission of Ukrainian troops to Ukraine, and noted that the national authorization for the use of long-range weapons against targets in depth would also contribute to the hardening of the war.

Speaking about the recent cyber attack against the internal IT system of the Defence Procurement Agency Ltd (VBÜ Zrt.), the defence minister said that the criminal act involved data theft by an international hacker group to obtain material benefit, underlining that the data theft wasn’t committed by an opposing foreign secret service. He said that the VBÜ is a company exclusively dealing in procurement activities. The servers of the company “were not, are not and will not be” connected to the systems of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the Ministry of Defence. He also pointed out that the VBÜ does not handle any classified data. He highlighted that the stolen data may violate business secrets, but do not threaten national security.

The stolen data may have been reedited, so their authenticity is disputable – underlined the minister. He called it important that the IT attack did not result in data loss, all data and documents are still available to the VBÜ, and the course of business continues to be ensured. Despite the action, procurements are continuous and the fulfilment of the equipment needs of the Hungarian Defence Forces is not being endangered.

Hungary’s cyber security is ensured at a high level, and responds immediately and definitely to all incidents. The relevant IT systems have been reinforced, the minister said. “Following the incident, we filed a necessary police report, tightened the cyber and information security processes and are paying special attention to how the case plays out” – added Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky.