“Hungary will withdraw its veto blocking the tightening of relations between NATO and Ukraine if the Transcarpathian Hungarians are given back the rights they were entitled prior to the introduction of the Ukrainian language act”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement to public media at the NATO summit in London on Wednesday.

“It is in Hungary’s interests for Ukraine to be a stable, democratic and safe country”, Mr. Szijjártó underlined. “Because the stronger and more stable Ukraine is, the better position Transcarpathian Hungarians can find themselves in”, he added.

“The rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians were seriously violated under the previous president, and in the recent period pressure on them has increased in a hidden manner with the involvement of the Ukrainian secret service”, the Minister recalled. “We have made it clear on several occasions to the Ukrainian party that Hungary will only be able to withdraw its veto blocking the tightening of relations between NATO and Ukraine if the Transcarpathian Hungarians are given back the exact same rights to which they were entitled prior to the coming into force of the Ukrainian minority and language use acts”, Mr. Szijjártó underlined.

“We are not asking for anything extra; we are not asking for additional rights for the Transcarpathian Hungarians, only for those that they were in possession of before”, Mr. Szijjártó said in summary, also declaring that until then the Hungarian veto will not be withdrawn.

(MTI)