There is a realistic chance of normalising Hungarian-Ukrainian relations

“There has been a significant step forward toward normalising Hungarian-Ukrainian relations and restoring the friendly cooperation between the two countries”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Parliamentary State Secretary, Levente Magyar said on Wednesday in Uzhhorod (Ungvár), where he and Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar reviewed issues relating to the implementation of the new Ukrainian Education Act, cross-border cooperation and the development of border infrastructure.

At the press conference following the three-hour meeting, Mr. Levente emphasised: based on the negotiations he believes there is a realistic chance of normalising Hungarian-Ukrainian relations in view of the fact that the Ukrainian party has confirmed that despite the coming into force of the Education Act, which has made relations between the two countries difficult, no changes will be made to the minority education system without the prior approval of minority representatives.

“A series of negotiations will begin with Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and representatives of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, and a meeting will be held with Minister of Education Lilija Hrinevics on 14 February”, he added, noting that in view of the Ukrainian party’s undertaking during their meeting in Uzhhorod he feels there is an excellent chance of coming to a rapid agreement, which would mean that the current status quo will not be changing until the Ukrainian Government and the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia come to an agreement, which is approved by the latter.

“We did not want to create an international affair out of the issue of minority language education in Ukraine;

circumstances dictated that the stipulations of the newly adopted education act, which ignored the opinion of minorities and violated the previous obligations included in international agreements concluded with the European Union and NATO, brought about a situation in which Hungary was forced to intervene”, the Parliamentary State Secretary highlighted. “I now see a serious chance that we will be able to leave this difficult period behind us and continue the extremely forward-looking cooperation that we have maintained with Ukraine since it gained independence”, he stressed.