Both Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted to the recent events in Venezuela on Saturday. Orbán emphasized that "there are no Hungarian citizens involved or injured in the military operation”.
The Prime Minister wrote on Facebook that they are in constant contact with ambassadors in the region to ensure that "no Hungarian citizen gets into trouble in Venezuela." They also consulted with players in the Hungarian energy sector in order to protect Hungary from the effects the Venezuelan crisis might have on energy prices. "The Hungarian government is at work," the head of government wrote.
In the early hours of Saturday, the United States carried out an attack on Venezuela, and captured and took Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro out of the country. Mrs Maduro has been a member of the National Assembly for the past ten years.
In 2023, Péter Szijjártó posted a photo of himself with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. "We agreed that amid the current changes in world politics, the primary responsibility of elected leaders is to preserve the sovereignty of their countries and to resist attempts at outside interference, the Foreign Minister wrote in his post at the time.
On Saturday, the Foreign Minister posted on Facebook saying: "With regard to the US operation carried out in Caracas: no Hungarian citizens were harmed during the events". He also said that there is one Hungarian citizen in Caracas who is registered for consular protection, they are well, and the embassy has been in contact with them. “We are aware of two Hungarian citizens who are in prison in Venezuela, one of them is in a rural location that was not affected, and the other in the capital, but that area was also not affected by the events.”
As of Saturday evening, the Foreign Ministry has not responded to Telex's inquiry about the Hungarian government's position on the US operation in Venezuela. As soon as they do, we will provide an update.
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