Hungary’s veto of NATO Ukraine declaration due to minority rights
Hungary vetoed a joint declaration of NATO ambassadors on Ukraine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó noted at the Eurasia Forum in Budapest on Wednesday, as it did not compel Ukraine to hand back rights it stripped from the ethnic Hungarian minority.
The minister said that
Hungary was not prepared to sacrifice the interests of 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine to geopolitical interests.
Hungary submitted several amendment proposals to the declaration stating that Ukraine must fulfill its duties towards minorities according to international law, and several of the proposals were based on the tenets of the Council of Europe and the United Nations. Since these proposals were rejected, “we had no other choice than to veto the declaration”, Szijjártó added.
Szijjártó said the interests of the 150,000-strong Hungarian minority in western Ukraine “are not so important on the other side of the ocean”.
“But we live here in central and eastern Europe, and the interest of a Hungarian is a enough reason for us to stand by him.”
Stripping the rights of a minority belonging to one of the NATO member states should at least merit mention in such a document, Szijjártó said, adding that the document should include a clause on reinstating those rights.
Hungary rejects Ukraine’s ‘baseless accusations’
Source: mti
Please explain what rights were stripped from ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine? I also trust that these very same rights are enshrined in the Hungarian constitution for ethnic Ukrainians . The shameful action of blocking Ukraine from NATO membership shows how Putin rules Hungary and the weakness of the Hungarian state.
Bravo Bohdana! What a shame and a disgrace for Europe. Hungary is playing by Moscow’s rules and doesn’t consider the rights of millions of Ukrainians. Long gone are the days of 1956…
Is this a joke.
Hungarians are the ones that most certainly do not respect any of my rights.If they pee on my rights often and Hungary has no standard how can they go around demanding rights from Ukraine, Romania, Serbia..
A crime is committed almost on daily basis in, after reporting to the police I am prevented by the police to make a written report.
Since June 2019- 26 10 2019 on 3 different occasion the Szeged police had prevented me of complying report, plus claiming from my household insurance.
Obviously the Szeged police are the best friends with criminals.
You should not showel Hungarian territories, national assets and millions of Hungarians with their cities and villages to foreign bands who are murdering them. Go the hell
Hungary was the first country to recognize Ukraine as a state and its independence. Hungary is also treating injured Ukrainian soldiers. Every year Hungary hosts Ukrainian children from war torn areas for a retreat/holiday. Terrible people right Bohdana?
“In April this year, I voiced my concern about the hasty adoption by Ukraine of a new law “on ensuring the functioning of Ukrainian as a state language” shortly before the general elections and without adequate public consultation. I now look forward to the forthcoming opinion on the law by the Venice Commission, whose independent expertise will help shed more light on the impact that this law may have on the rights of persons belonging to Ukraine’s numerous linguistic communities, including the Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, Tatar and other minorities. Green MEP Rebecca Harms voiced concern that the final signing had been premature, without adequate consultation and before the Venice Commission had given its opinion. Under particular scrutiny are its provisions on teaching subjects in Ukraine’s minority languages and its insistence that all high school subjects, aside from language and literature classes, must now be taught predominantly in Ukrainian. More directly, it has aroused strong statements and diplomatic reaction from Romania, Bulgaria and most vocally Hungary, which has vowed to veto any further European integration for Ukraine, albeit that no further European integration is currently planned for Ukraine and Kiev continues to have no membership perspective from Brussels.
Minorities have proper rights and freedoms in Hungary, that is why they are in the EU and Ukraine is not. The Hungarian minority numbers 150 000 in Ukraine, and there are about 8000 Ukrainians in Hungary.
And it is not just Hungary. “Given the country’s internal difficulties and the rejection by Dutch voters of the country’s ‘Association Agreement’ with the EU, diplomats say neither it nor the EU are ready for membership. It would in any case be “suicidal” to join the EU while Russia is headed by Vladimir Putin, a senior diplomat told POLITICO.”