“We must continuously argue with Brussels concerning which of the human rights of the migrants must be respected, while there are 150 thousand Hungarians in Transcarpathia for whom it is a fundamental human right to be able to live in safety in their own homeland and use their own language”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday in Budapest.
At a joint press conference following a meeting with the President of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ), László Brenzovics, the Minister spoke about the fact that it would seem the migrants are more important to Brussels than the 150 thousand Hungarians living in Transcarpathia: “Brussels currently appears to regard the human rights of the migrants as being more important that the rights of Hungarians living in Transcarpathia, and I believe that this is an extremely damaging image, which it would be good if Brussels were to negate. Accordingly, we expect Brussels to take firm action to protect the truly existing rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians”.
“In Ukraine, the situation with relation to legislation that violates the Hungarian national community has worsened in recent days, and instead of Ukraine conforming to the decisions and expectations of international forums, there have been several initiatives and developments that further exacerbate the situation”, Mr. Szijjártó explained.
“Despite the recommendations of the Venice Commission at the end of last year, the Ukrainian Government has still not conducted a single official consultation with the KMKSZ on the Education Act, which restricts full native language education to the age of twelve, from the original 23”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister pointed out.
“Ukraine is prepared to delay the implementation of the Education Act until 2023, but that is not enough; we expect Ukraine not to implement the legislation until 2023 and to come to an agreement with minority representatives in the period leading up to 2023”, he said. “We also expect private schools to be exempted from the law”, he added.
As he explained, Ukraine could easily conform to these expectations, and if it does so Hungary will withdraw its existing veto in NATO.
Hungary is also concerned with relation to the new Nationality Act bill, which would strip dual nationals of their Ukrainian citizenship. “This is not only worrying from a Hungarian perspective, but also from NATO’s point of view, because the Ukrainian state would strip the citizens of a NATO member state of their citizenship as a result of this new law”, he also noted.
Hungary is continuously seeking the opportunity for dialogue, as proven by the fact that he will be holding talks with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister on the sidelines of next week’s summit of EU foreign ministers, and the fact that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell will be visiting Budapest on 23 May, Mr. Szijjártó stated.
László Brenzovics stressed that more and more measures and plans are being drawn up that would curtail the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarian, and which contravene the Ukrainian Constitution and Ukraine’s international commitments. “And if a country is striving to become a member of NATO and the European Union it cannot introduce measures that are at odds with European principles”, he pointed out.
“This issue concerns all European minorities, because if Hungarian language education can be done away with in Ukraine, the same can be done in other countries”, he said.
The President of the KMKSZ said the goal is to extend the implementation of the Education Act until 2023, and for the interim period to enable the adoption of a suitable piece of legislation that is not at odds with Ukraine’s international commitments or with the country’s constitution.
In reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó spoke about the fact that in the period remaining until the 2019 European Parliament elections “there will be plenty of political and legal battles”, and in the meantime the debate on the next 7-year EU programming period is also ongoing, with relation to which some parties want to introduce subjective requirements concerning the funding to which member states are entitled in accordance with the EU treaties.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister said that in his opinion the European Commission will attempt to close the debate on migration by this summer, despite the fact that because migration is the most serious challenge currently facing the EU the correct approach would be to allow European citizens to determine the course of action with regard to the issue at the EP elections.
The Sargentini report, which is “a collection of qualified lies”, and which also includes issues that have already been adequately closed, is also on the table, he noted.
Also in reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó said that with relation to the structure of the Ministry, it is expedient for the foreign economy and foreign policy to remain together, but that there will be certain changes and the Ministry will also be receiving a few other portfolios.
(MTI)
