EU's Borrell denies mandatory military draft claims amid Hungarian pushback

The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, refuted the remarks made by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto regarding a supposedly planned mandatory military draft in Europe. "We are very far from having such powers," he stated, emphasizing that such decisions rest with the member countries.

On Monday, Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs posted about the Hungarian Foreign Minister's participation in a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. According to the statement, Szijjarto condemned the proposals regarding the allegedly mandatory military draft in Europe as "unacceptable" and declared that the government would strongly oppose "sending youth from Central Europe and Hungary to fight in Ukraine."

In response to a question about this at a press conference following the meeting, the head of EU diplomacy smiled and denied this post.

"The European Union cannot announce a mandatory military draft. We are so very far from having such powers," he emphasized.

"This is a decision that belongs to the member countries. I read in the newspapers that the United Kingdom is considering it, but the European Union cannot do such a thing and is not even considering it," he emphasized.