“It is the development of Transcarpathia that is important to the Hungarian Government, and it is obvious that this requires Hungarian budgetary resources, which Hungary is providing”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Friday.

The Ministry was reacting to the fact that, following a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter: “Hungary is modifying the appointment of the Ministerial Commissioner for the Development of Transcarpathia and the Carpathian Basin Nursery School Development Programme, which has been objected to by Kiev”.

“I began this morning with a meeting with my Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó. The Hungarians have heard us, and will be modifying the appointment of the Commissioner for Transcarpathia, in addition to which we are working constructively on all other issues”, Klimkin wrote. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister did not enter into further detail.

Mr. Szijjártó is currently attending a two-day informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Vienna.

Kiev had previously stated that it regards the appointment of a Ministerial Commissioner for Transcarpathia during the course of the formation of the new government following the April elections in Hungary as interference in Ukrainian internal affairs.

In a press statement in early August, Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar also threatened to ban Ministerial Commissioner István Grezsa from entering the country unless Hungary provides a suitable explanation for having established the post. The protest list of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also demanded an explanation from Budapest.

During the previous government term, István Grezsa was the Prime Minister’s Office’s Government Commissioner for cooperation between Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and Transcarpathia and the government coordination of concerted development tasks involving the two regions.

In the statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade wrote: “It is the development of Transcarpathia that is important to the Hungarian Government, and it is obvious that this requires Hungarian budgetary resources, which Hungary is providing. However, for some difficult to understand and unfortunate reason the Ukrainian Government is using all possible means to prevent the delivery of this funding, the latest step being to pick a quarrel with relation to the title of István Grezsa. If the price for our continuing to be able to assist Transcarpathia is that we must change the title of the Ministerial Commissioner, we will of course oblige”.

(MTI)