Hungarian President travelled to Ukraine, will meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv

President Katalin Novák already departed for her official visit to Kyiv after she accepted the invitation of President Zelenskiy. Based on the information of index.hu, a Hungarian news outlet, the President flies to Poland first. Then she continues her journey to Ukraine by train. The Presidential Office neither denied nor confirmed the information.

According to index.hu, this is the most high-profile visit by a Hungarian official to Ukraine. The Hungarian government decided to support Ukraine by paying Hungary’s share in the EU’s EUR 18 billion financial bailout. That means Budapest will have to transfer EUR 187 million.

Novák was among the signatories of a joint statement of 11 European heads of state condemning the Russian attack against Ukraine on 10 October. They highlighted in the document that the Russian nuclear threats were unacceptable. Furthermore, they demanded that the Kremlin stop attacks against civilian targets. The heads of state also declared that those responsible for war crimes should answer for their deeds in court.

Earlier this week, Novák met with the chairman of the KMKSZ, the leading party of the Hungarians living in Ukraine. Later, she welcomed Transcarpathian Hungarian kids in the Presidential Sándor Palace.

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In June, PM Viktor Orbán and President Zelenskiy talked on the phone. They touched on subjects like the EU accession of Ukraine, offering support for the refugees and Hungary-Ukraine cooperation. After the phone conversation, the Ukrainian President invited PM Orbán to Kyiv, but the visit has not taken place yet.

Ukraine famine-genocide to be commemorated with candle-lighting

Candles will be lit and the Danube-facing side of Parliament will be plunged into darkness on Saturday to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1932-1933 famine-genocide in Ukraine (Holodomor), Parliament’s press office has said. The Ukrainian victims of communist terror will be commemorated with candles placed on the steps of Parliament and in Budapest’s Petofi Square, the office told MTI on Friday.

The commemoration which will also mark the 19th anniversary of the adoption of a solidarity resolution condemning Stalinist crimes and declaring that the 1932-33 famine was a genocide was initiated by Liliana Grexa, spokesperson of the ethnic Ukrainian minority in parliament. The statement noted that Hungary’s parliament was among the first to recognise the Holodomor as a genocide when it adopted its solidarity resolution on November 26, 2003. Members of the Ukrainian minority will also be commemorating the genocide at the Holodomor memorials in Szeged, in the south, and Nyiregyhaza, in the east.

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Source: index.hu, MTI