“Hungary and Ukraine want to resolve their disputes in a reassuring manner”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Friday in Budapest.

At a joint press conference following a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Mr. Szijjártó emphasised: “There are significant questions in bilateral relations that we continue to approach differently, including issues relating to the education and language use rights of the Hungarian national community”. “When the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia tells us that everything is in order with relation to these issues, Hungary will lift its veto of NATO-Ukraine Commission meetings”, he stated.

“We have agreed on a schedule, and have received a draft proposal from Ukraine concerning the fact that we should adopt a joint declaration that sets out the path for the future, and this also includes chapters that concern education and native language use”, he explained. “Meetings of all three inter-governmental joint committees and working groups will be convened in June and their task, in accordance with the proposed schedule, will be to draw up an agreement on these disputed issues, to which Transcarpathian Hungarians are able to say that it is order, and which is also acceptable to the Ukrainian government”, he explained. “The aim isn’t to maintain the veto, but to achieve an agreement”, he added.

“Until such an agreement is concluded, we will continue to search for opportunities to realise joint success stories, because it has already been proven in the case of other relations that it is easier to resolve difficult issues based on these”, Mr. Szijjártó said. “Transcarpathia could be one such success story, and accordingly it is good news that the Ukrainian President and government are planning major infrastructure development projects in the region”, he declared. “Hungary is also happy to contribute to this, and is providing a 50-million-dollar tied aid loan construction”, he added.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that the parties will have the opportunity to open new border crossing points and refurbish the Tisza bridge at Záhony. “In addition, Hungary is prepared to continue the Transcarpathian Economic Development Program, within the framework of which it has already provided funding to 33 thousand applicants”, he stated.

With relation to the economy, Mr. Szijjártó said that major Hungarian corporations are regarding Ukraine as an increasingly important market, including OTP bank and pharmaceutical company Richter. “Last year, the volume of bilateral trade flow between our two countries exceeded 4 billion dollars, and a 66-million-dollar credit line was opened at Hungary’s EximBank to facilitate cooperation between Hungarian and Ukrainian enterprises”, he pointed out.

“The coronavirus epidemic has shown that the countries of Central Europe live in close interdependence”, Mr. Szijjártó also stated. “The two countries have shown solidarity in the difficult situation, with Hungary helping Ukrainian citizens stranded in Western Europe to return home, and donating 8.5 tons of protective equipment to healthcare institutions in Transcarpathia”, he pointed out.

“We highly appreciate the fact that Dmytro Kuleba’s first official trip as Foreign Minister has been to Budapest; this is an important sign from the perspective of future relations between our two countries”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister noted.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister highlighted: “The time has come for us to open a new chapter in bilateral relations, to find mutually advantageous solutions to open questions, and to continue to support each other”. He also said that the epidemic continues to rule Europe, and Hungary has successfully protected against it. “Ukraine is also working to achieve this; protecting against the epidemic requires difficult decisions, and has shown us just how important it is to develop the healthcare system”, he stated. Mr. Kuleba thanked Hungary for enabling Ukrainian citizens to return home.

In reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó told reporters: “When the epidemic broke out, Ukraine made the decision to only allow its own citizens into the country. During the upcoming weeks Ukraine may be slowly easing the border restrictions step-by-step, and I recommended that it begin by enabling the crossing of the border for commuters, since a similar solution is already working well along other stretches of our border”, he explained.

Prior to the press conference, the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on the amendment of their agreement concerning a financial cooperation framework program, as well as a declaration of intent to enter into cooperation within the field of energy efficiency.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)