“Hungary highly appreciates the assistance of the United States in the interests of solving the conflict that has developed with Ukraine because of legislation that violates the rights of minorities”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told reporters in Budapest on Wednesday following talks with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell.
Mr. Szijjártó said he had confirmed to his negotiating partner that Hungary does not have an interest in prolonging the dispute, but in finding a solution to the conflict.
“Hungary would like the 150 thousand Transcarpathian Hungarians to be able to live in peace and legal security, and for Ukraine to stop violating its international and bilateral commitments”, the Minister declared.
Mr. Szijjártó added that Hungary would like the issue is resolved prior to the NATO summit in June, in the interests of which he will be meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent the memorandum adopted by the Cabinet, in which he summarises the processes in Ukraine and the country’s violations of minority rights, to the NATO Secretary General and to the Prime Ministers of NATO’s member states, in addition to which he has also called for Ukraine to exempt the minorities of NATO member states from the implementation of new legislation that restricts the rights of minorities, he reminded the press.
Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that he and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State had reinforced the strategic partnership and alliance between Hungary and the United States.
“The strategic interests of the two countries concur and we are both committed to further developing cooperation between the Central European region and the United States, one of the aspects of which is energy security. Hungary is counting on the U.S. playing a role in Central European energy diversification in future”, the Minister said. According to Mr. Szijjártó, the parties also confirmed their intent to renew the defence cooperation agreement concluded over 20 years ago to better reflect new challenges. Economic cooperation was also a subject of discussion. The United States is the second largest foreign investor in Hungary: the 1700 American enterprises currently operating in Hungary employ 100 thousand people. “Hungary and the United States are also working in close cooperation with relation to UN reform, and agree that the organisation’s institutions must be modernised, and its procedures must be accelerated and made more balanced”, the Minister highlighted.
“The United States withdrew relatively quickly from the negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration, which indicates that the Americans are also not completely satisfied with developments”, he noted.
(MTI)
