Steven N.Speaking to ATV’s Egyenes Beszéd, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said he had no plans to return the Order of Friendship award that he received from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in December.
Everything that happened before the war, in peacetime, has no relevance now, during the war.
-said Szijjártó in response to a question about whether he had thought about returning the distinguished award from the Russian government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the commendation back in November, in recognition of the Hungarian Foreign Minister’s “significant contribution to the development of Russian-Hungarian relations and cooperation in industrial and investment affairs.”
In March, State Secretary Tamás Menczer told Egyenes Beszéd that Szijjártó was too preoccupied to concern himself with the idea of returning the Friendship award, but Menczer claimed that “if the Foreign Minister finds time along with all of the other things he has to do, I’m sure he’ll think about it.” [Telex]
