Hungary to launch new joint projects with Ukraine

Levente Magyar, state secretary at the foreign ministry, had talks focusing on “mutually important” bilateral projects in Kiev on Monday.

“Despite differences of opinion” with regard to the rights of Ukraine’s Hungarian community, discussions embraced “several joint projects that could bring Ukrainians closer to Hungarians”, Magyar told MTI.

Magyar mentioned Wizzair’s plans to launch a direct flight between Budapest and Lviv, as well as plans for two motorway links between the two countries.

He also noted efforts to speed up railway services between Budapest and Mukachevo (Munkács), and plans to open new border crossing facilities as well as renovating existing ones.

For that matter, the Hungarian government is in “continuous communication” with Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian KMKSZ party over recent developments in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday.

Speaking in Bonn, Szijjártó called it “obviously bad news” that “martial law has been declared in a neighbouring country”.

It is in Hungary’s interest that peace should prevail “in countries in which lots of Hungarians live”, he said, adding that security for Ukraine’s 150,000-strong Hungarian community was “crucially important”.

Szijjártó said hopefully the situation in Ukraine would be resolved soon.

Source: MTI