Hungarian FM comments on EU plan to allocate €20 million to Armenia

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has responded to reports that Hungary blocked a decision to allocate €20 million to Armenia through the European Peace Facility.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the “Yerevan Dialogue” conference, Szijjártó clarified that Hungary is not opposed to providing Armenia with €20 million in aid from the European Peace Facility. However, he emphasized that, in order to maintain balance, an equal amount of aid should also be allocated to Azerbaijan.

 He noted that the European Union should take into account the instability of the situation, as well as the fact that Armenia and Azerbaijan are close to signing a peace agreement,.

“Our request was that the European Union provide equal support to Azerbaijan. Last time, it worked: €10 million was allocated to Armenia and €10 million to Azerbaijan. This time, it can work too,” Szijjártó explained.

He added that he had a productive discussion with the Armenian Foreign Minister and made it clear that Hungary supports the allocation of aid to Armenia from the European Peace Facility, provided that equal assistance is extended to Azerbaijan. He stressed that this principle applies to any EU funding mechanism.

In April, RFE/RL, citing sources, reported that Hungary had blocked the decision to allocate €20 million to Armenia at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.