OREANDA-NEWS  The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, rejected the accusations of the Baltic states in visa exemptions for citizens of Russia and Belarus. He published a corresponding statement on his Facebook page (a social network banned in the Russian Federation; owned by the Meta corporation, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and banned).

According to him, the "Baltic false propaganda campaign against" Hungary has resumed because of the National Map program, which includes Russians and Belarusians in addition to citizens of other states. "And by doing this, we allegedly endanger the security of the Schengen area, the Baltic states claim. This is a childish lie," said the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.

Szijjarto stressed that citizens of Russia and Belarus can still enter Hungary and the territory of the Schengen area only with a visa, and they can obtain a residence permit only in accordance with the procedure provided for by law. "According to European rules, conducting such procedures and issuing a residence permit are within the national competence, therefore, the authorities of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia also have this right," he added.

Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, during a speech in the Romanian city of Baile Tushnad, accused Warsaw of hypocrisy because it reproaches other countries for their ties with Moscow.