Hungary voices regret over Romania’s banning Szekler official
Hungary seeks to build “civilised” ties based on “mutual respect” with Romania, but such moves as Romania’s recent banning an official of the Szekler National Council (SZNT), a Hungarian citizen, from that country “won’t help the process”, the Hungarian foreign minister told reporters on Saturday.
Péter Szijjártó spoke after Romanian authorities on Friday denied entry to Attila Dabis, foreign affairs commissioner of the Szekler National Council in Romania.
Szijjártó said that legal entrants could only be banned from a country upon a court ruling, and insisted that Romania‘s border police “had not referred to any such decision”. He added that Romanian authorities had declined to comment, and that the Hungarian government would send a diplomatic note to the Romanian interior and foreign ministries.
The foreign minister suggested that
Romania had violated a European citizen’s right to free movement within the community, and called it “unacceptable”.
Concerning events connected to the Day of Szekler Freedom in Marosvásárhely (Targu Mures), which Dabis was planning to attend, Szijjártó said that “nobody must be denied the right to commemorate heroes in history”, and voiced hope that Romania’s authorities will “proceed in a European manner”.
On another subject, Szijjártó criticised Ukraine’s authorities for their “passive stance” concerning continual attacks against that country’s Hungarian community, and insisted that Ukraine was “becoming unworthy” of joining the European Union or NATO. The Hungarian government will “face all debates and fight all battles” for Hungarian people, whether they are living in Hungary or in other countries, Szijjártó added. Hungary will not support any of Ukraine’s endeavours to join international organisations before that country drops its measures hurting ethnic minorities, the minister said.
Referring to recommendations by the EU and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, Szijjártó said that the Ukrainian government should enter into negotiations with ethnic minority representatives and change Ukraine’s education law, which currently restricts their access to education in minority languages. Szijjártó also referred to proposals now before Ukraine’s parliament to amend the language law, and said that the “nonsensical” bills were aimed at fully suppressing the Hungarian language in Ukraine.
Ukraine uses “false propaganda” to divide ethnic Hungarians and manipulate the international community, Szijjártó insisted.
Szijjártó noted that Hungary had repeatedly asked leaders of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to extend the presence of OSCE observers from East Ukraine to western parts of the country in light of attacks against the Hungarian minority. According to recent, official information, OSCE has set up a 12-strong mission in Uzhhorod (Ungvár), Szijjártó said.
Photo by MTI
Hungary summons Ukrainian ambassador over attack against Hungarian cultural association’s office
The foreign ministry is summoning Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary over an attack against the headquarters of ethnic Hungarian cultural association KMKSZ in Uzhhorod, in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region, that saw the building set on fire, the foreign minister said on Tuesday.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, unidentified attackers broke one of the building’s windows and threw in a petrol bomb or another type of explosive, which set the building on fire, burning out most of the ground floor.
Speaking to public news channel M1, Péter Szijjártó noted that this was the second attack against the KMKSZ headquarters this month, adding that “shocking developments” were taking place in Ukraine. “Extremist political views” are gaining ground, he said.
This can be seen in the laws that have been passed by Ukraine’s parliament “which severely restrict the rights of minorities” Szijjártó said, and the “constant intimidation” of Transcarpathia Hungarians.
“All of this is unacceptable”, and if Ukraine is serious about deepening its ties with the European Union and NATO, it must be able to “keep extremists at bay”, Szijjártó said.
In addition to summoning the Ukrainian ambassador, the foreign ministry will send back the Hungarian ambassador to Kiev and the consul-general to Uzhhorod, both of whom had been in Budapest for the meeting of Hungarian ambassadors, he said.
Szijjártó said he is also scheduled to meet the OSCE high commissioner on national minorities on Tuesday and that he will request that the organisation establish a presence in Transcarpathia as well.
The Prime Minister’s Office said it will provide help with repairing the damage done to KMKSZ’s headquarters. “The state secretariat for Hungarian communities abroad is shocked to hear of the attack carried out against the headquarters of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association and condemns it in the strongest terms,” Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, state secretary for ethnic Hungarian communities abroad Árpád János Potápi and István Grezsa, government commissioner in charge of Transcarpathia, said in a statement.
The Hungarian government will provide all the help and resources needed for repairing the damage and ensuring that KMKSZ can carry on with its responsibilities of representing Transcarpathia Hungarians as quickly as possible, the statement said.
The ruling Fidesz party also condemned the attack and said the Ukrainian government and Brussels should not tolerate any more of “the intimidation of Transcarpathia Hungarians”. In a statement, Fidesz called on the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) to condemn the attack and on the European Commission to take action in defence of Transcarpathia Hungarians.
“This is an open attack against Transcarpathia Hungarians,” Fidesz communications director Balázs Hidvéghi said. He said responsibility for the attacks against the KMKSZ office this month lay with the Ukrainian government’s policies of restricting minority rights and the country’s new education law, which he said had emboldened extremists.
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Ukraine must suspend implementation of education law, says Hungarian FM
Hungary calls on Ukraine to suspend the implementation of its education law until the agreement is reached on details with Transcarpathia Hungarians, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday.
Szijjártó is in Sofia for a two-day informal meeting of foreign ministers of the European Union.
Speaking to MTI by phone after discussing regional security issues with officials of EU candidate countries, Szijjártó said
respect for minority rights was a key aspect of security.
Ukraine — a country looking to move closer to EU integration — has recently seriously violated international law on the protection of minority rights which are also strictly enforced by the EU, the minister said.
Szijjártó accused Kiev of having launched an “international smear campaign” against Hungary and Transcarpathia Hungarians, saying that Ukraine Hungarians had stayed away from a consultation on the education law with the Ukrainian government, as recommended by the Venice Commission. But in fact, he said, the government wanted to consult the Hungarian community on a new law that would have been based on the contested stipulations passed last year. He insisted that representatives of the local Hungarian community had not been invited to discuss the education law. If they had shown up for the consultations, it would have signalled an approval of the education law on their part, he argued.
Szijjártó speculated that
the Ukrainian government had launched its “smear campaign” to “hide the fact that they couldn’t care less about the Venice Commission’s decision” on the education law.
Ukraine’s new rules on education banning post-primary-level education in minority languages were signed into law by the president last September.
Photo: MTI/EPA/Gian Ehrenzeller
Hungarian FM: Hungary to stand by Transcarpathia Hungarians
The Hungarian foreign ministry maintains its position that “we will stand up for Transcarpathia Hungarians, and will not allow the curbing of their acquired rights,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday in response to remarks by Ukrainian politicians made earlier in the day.
At a government meeting on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Minister of Education Liliya Hrynevych said Szijjártó’s remarks according to which Ukraine should refrain from putting in practice the new education law until consultations are held with ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia were “manipulative”. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described Szijjártó’s remarks as “shameless and unacceptable”.
Szijjártó said in response that “we cannot be persuaded to back off either with blackmail or abusive comments.”
He called on members of the Ukrainian government to observe international law and “stop trying to take away acquired rights” from the ethnic Hungarian minority.
Transcarpathia Hungarians have the right to education in their mother tongue, as declared by several international agreements, he added.
The Hungarian government supports all forms of consultations between the Ukrainian government and Transcarpathia Hungarians but the talks must focus on real problems and ethnic Hungarians’ rights must not be curbed, he said.
Foreign minister: Government maintains position on Ukraine education law
Hungary is sticking to its policy concerning Ukraine’s education law and will thwart Ukraine’s endeavours in international organisations unless that country “provides legal guarantees”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told a press conference on Monday.
Szijjártó insisted that if the Hungarian government “gave up its veto power” in international organisations, it would “give up the only means to protect Transcarpathia Hungarians and make Ukraine observe international law”.
Szijjártó also said that Hungary had vetoed a NATO-Ukraine defence ministers’ meeting originally set for February 14-15.
The minister said that although international organisations had tried to pressure Hungary into giving up its veto, it had resisted. Under Hungary’s foreign policy, the government has a responsibility to protect Hungarians wherever they may live, he added. Everything is connected on the global political stage, so Hungary has not accepted the argument that it should not tie its veto power to an issue concerning minorities, Szijjártó said.
The minister said the issue surrounding Ukraine’s education law was more than a bilateral issue, arguing that by passing the legislation, Ukraine had violated basic international law.
Every country that strives for tight integration with NATO has to take on annual commitments, Szijjártó said, adding that Ukraine had made a commitment to respecting minority rights. If Ukraine is serious about deepening its ties with NATO and the European Union, it must meet their expectations, he said.
In order for Hungary to give up its veto power, Kiev must follow the EU and the Venice Commission’s recommendations in connection with the law and suspend its implementation until it has worked out all of its details with minority groups, Szijjártó said.
The minister said there was “communication warfare ongoing” in connection with the dispute on the education law, because certain entities had tried to publish stories in the media claiming that an agreement had been reached in the matter. But this is not the case, Szijjártó said. He added that if Ukraine simply extended the transitional phase for the law’s introduction, the situation would not change because it would only mean a delay in the introduction of the exact same law.
Hungary’s interest lies in resolving the dispute, Szijjártó said.
Consultations between the Ukrainian government and Transcarpathia Hungarians could begin as early as this Wednesday and the Hungarian government is ready to give Transcarpathia Hungarians all the support they need, he added.
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Hungarian MPs of Carpathian Basin meet in Budapest
Relations among Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin have been better and more successful over the past four years than at any other point in the last century, Parliamentary Speaker László Kövér said opening the plenary session of the Hungarian Parliamentary Assembly of the Carpathian Basin (KMKF) in Budapest on Friday.
Even the opposition parties that have “psychologically and politically moved on from the era of post-communism” view Hungarian communities beyond the border and now see them as assets, just as Hungary’s ruling parties do, Kövér said.
The speaker said that over the past four years, ethnic Hungarian political groups have developed new forms of cooperation with each other. During this period, central and eastern European countries also gradually formed a new kind of cooperation, Kövér said.
“The novelty of this new relationship is rooted in the psychological and political recognition that we, the peoples of this region will not be anyone’s servants — of either our western or eastern friends,” he added.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told the meeting that the core principle of the government’s policy for Hungarian communities beyond the border was that it was not the government’s job to say what is good for them but it was for the communities to tell the government what is in their interests.
The minister said that when deciding on and developing its related strategy, the government has four principles in mind.
Hungarian communities beyond the borders should have good relations between their birthplace and the motherland, and the Hungarian government, parliament and politicians should help to strengthen Hungarian communities beyond the borders where they live. They should be seen as a resource, he said, adding that if they need protection, the government should resort to mobilising international pressure.
Assessing ties with neighboring countries, Szijjártó said Hungarian-Slovak relations had never been as good or balanced as they are today.
In Serbia, however, with a few exceptions, the rights of the Hungarian community are far from being upheld, he said.
With regard to Romania, Szijjártó welcomed the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic high school in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely) and the fact that it had been possible to resolve “a previously irreversible national minority issue”. He congratulated the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) for its efforts.
Ties with Slovenia and Croatia are balanced, even if there are several economic disputes with Croatia, he said.
Szijjártó also referred to the Ukrainian education law, noting that Hungary had firmly supported Ukraine’s aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration. But given that the law harms the rights of national minorities in violation of Ukraine’s bilateral and international obligations, Hungary will continue to thwart the country’s international aspirations unless an agreement with Transcarpathian Hungarians is reached and they are satisfied, the minister said.
Szijjártó also noted cross-border economic development schemes under way that have attracted almost 25,600 applications, and small and medium-sized businesses have received support of 28,8 billion forints (EUR 93m).
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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.
Mr. Levente indicated that he and his Ukrainian negotiating partner had reviewed issues relating to projects aimed at developing relations, including the fact that Hungary would like to establish a motorway link with Ukraine in the upcoming years, would like to develop rail travel with the launching of new rail services, and would like to establish new border crossing points in the interests of making crossing the border more flexible.
“We came to the conclusion that these projects must in no way be hindered by any issues that are causing difficulties in our relations, and which could hopefully be resolved within the coming weeks”, he underlined.
In reply to a question from the press, the Parliamentary State Secretary explained that he regards the increasingly regular anti-Hungarian provocation in Transcarpathia as a worrying phenomenon, stressing that as in all other issues, the Hungarian Government is also relying on the pinion of the local Hungarian community with regard to this issue, and if it receives indications from them that they feel themselves to be in danger, then the Hungarian Government will certainly take action in the interests of protecting the Hungarian minority.
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Hungary, Romania agree on gas supplies
Romania will establish the technical conditions for gas exports to Hungary by 2020 in line with an agreement signed by foreign ministers Péter Szijjártó of Hungary and Teodor Melescanu of Romania in Bucharest on Monday.
From 2022, large volumes of gas extracted on the Black Sea will be available to Hungary, Szijjártó said. Hungarian companies have reserved the entire 4.4 billion cubic metres annual capacity on the Romania-Hungary supply route, he added.
“This is the first opportunity in the past few decades that Hungary can buy large volumes of gas from a non-Russian source,” he said, hailing the cooperation agreement as “historic progress towards Hungary’s energy security”.
The Romanian side agreed to build the compressors that will enable an annual supply of 1.75 billion cubic metres of gas by 2020 and this will be expanded to 4.4 billion by 2022.
“Hungary’s government has decided to build the missing pipeline link between the central gas distribution hub in Városföld and Vecsés near Budapest, where the Slovak-Hungarian gas pipeline ends. With this link, the north-south gas corridor, a facility crucial for national security in central Europe, will be complete,” he said.
The two countries agreed that the first TGV-type rail link of the region should be established between Budapest and Cluj (Kolozsvár) in central Romania. The Hungarian government has earmarked 1 billion forints (EUR 3.3m) for the feasibility study of the project, Szijjártó said. He added that Hungary has nothing against Romania’s plan to extend the line to Bucharest.
Hungary and Romania have agreed to convert two out of ten existing temporary border crossings into permanent, round-the-clock facilities.
Szijjártó also met the speakers of Romania’s two-chamber parliament and leader Hunor Kelemen of the ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party.
Szijjártó discusses Ukraine education law with Romanian colleague
No minority in Ukraine can suffer a violation of their rights to education, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
The law, passed last autumn, bans post-primary-level education in minority languages.
Szijjártó and Melescanu agreed that they would continue to cooperate in their opposition to the law so that Ukraine cannot violate the acquired rights of its ethnic minorities.
The two officials were also in agreement that the Ukrainian government should discuss the law with the country’s minority groups before implementing it. Kiev must also respect the Venice Commission’s recommendations in connection with the law, Szijjártó said.
He reiterated that the Hungarian government wants to continue cooperating with Romania on the issue of the Ukrainian education law based on mutual respect.
“One aspect of this is that we mutually respect the rights of minorities in line with European standards and view them as assets,” Szijjártó said.
Szijjártó said the Hungarian government was paying close attention to the situation of a church school in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely) whose operation had been suspended by Romania last year. The government trusts that Romania will honour a promise made by Parliamentary Speaker Liviu Dragnea to resolve the school’s situation, Szijjártó added.
“We are continuously monitoring this situation and we are also in contact with the leaders of the [ethnic Hungarian] RMDSZ party.”
MEPs ask EU leaders to press Ukraine on education law
MEPs have turned to European Union leaders in a letter, outlining the way the Ukrainian education law restricts minorities’ rights and asking them to put pressure on Ukraine to find a satisfactory solution, Andrea Bocskor, MEP of ruling Fidesz-KDNP, said in a statement on Thursday.
Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Bulgarian and Polish MEPs signed the letter sent to MEP head Antonio Tajani, Federica Mogherini, the high representative of foreign and security affairs, and Johannes Hahn, commissioner for neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations, Bocskor, who launched the initiative, said.
The signatories called for the EU heads to monitor how Ukraine implements the Venice Commission’s recommendations. Two months after their publication, Ukraine has yet to make changes, Bocskor said.
The EU leader’s influence will hopefully tip that balance, she said.
Ukrainian president Petro Porosenko signed an amendment to the education law on September 25. The amendment restricted minority language education to kindergarten and elementary school. Later that year, the Venice Commission has issued recommendations calling for Ukraine to respect the acquired rights of ethnic minorities.
Foreign minister: Hungary demands legal guarantee from Kiev
Hungary wants a legal guarantee that the Ukrainian government will consult with its Hungarian minority and reach an agreement before implementing any changes to its education law, Hungary’s foreign minister said in Paris after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart and a US official on Wednesday.
In talks with Pavlo Klimkin and Wess Mitchell, US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, Péter Szijjártó noted that Hungary had stated multiple times that the education law approved last September, restricting public education in minority languages to kindergarten and primary-school students, severely infringed on the acquired rights of the Hungarian community.
“Ukraine must not implement a law on education without reaching an agreement first with representatives of the local Hungarian community,” Szijjártó said, adding that the Hungarian government insisted on receiving the relevant legal guarantees from Kiev.
He said it would be wrong to present the issue purely as a Hungarian-Ukrainian conflict.
“Ukraine has violated basic international standards on the protection of minorities,”
the minister said, citing rules set down by the European Union, the Council of Europe, as well as the NATO action plan that Ukraine has pledged to implement.
Hungary stands foursquare behind the EU and CoE on the issue, and expects Ukraine to amend its public education law to comply with international law and the recommendations of the Venice Commission. Klimkin has pledged to start consultations with representatives of Ukraine’s ethnic minorities, Szijjártó said, but Hungary demands legal guarantees. “Without such guarantees, Hungary will not give up blocking all Ukrainian projects within NATO and the EU.”
Commenting on the US role in the talks, Szijjártó said the US wants to eliminate conflicts among allies in a geopolitically significant area. “This serves our purposes”, he said, adding that Hungary can only accept solutions favourable to Hungarian minorities.
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Foreign minister, Transcarpathian leader discuss Ukraine education law
If Ukraine adjusts its public education law according to the interests of Transcarpathia’s ethnic Hungarian minority, then Hungary will engage in consultations with its government towards an agreement, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after meeting the leader of the Cultural Association of Transcarpathian Hungarians (KMKSZ) on Thursday.
It is in the interest of Ukraine’s 150,000 ethnic Hungarians that Hungary maintains a good relationship with their homeland, Szijjártó told a press conference.
Hungary has been the most vocal supporter of Ukraine’s EU accession, he said. But the latest amendments to Ukraine’s public education law severely infringe on the acquired rights of the Hungarian community, Szijjártó said. Hungary will continue to block Ukraine’s EU accession attempts and will thwart efforts to convene a session of the NATO-Ukraine defence ministerial committee, too, unless its government changes its stance, Szijjártó said.
The amendments passed last September restricted public education in minority languages to kindergarten and primary school levels.
With these amendments, Ukraine has violated international and European legislation as well as several bilateral agreements, including the Ukrainian-Hungarian basic treaty, Szijjártó said, calling on Ukraine to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission, which in December urged Ukrainian lawmakers to make changes to the relevant legislation.
The simplest course of action would be to amend the contested provisions of the law, he said. So far, however, the Ukrainian government has not proposed talks with the Hungarian government or the minority representatives, the minister added.
Other draft bills before the Ukrainian parliament are further causes for concern, Szijjártó said.
A law on secondary education is being prepared without consultation with Hungary or Transcarpathian Hungarians, he noted. The law on minorities could curb ethnic minorities’ access to media, while the law on citizenship could be a threat to those with dual citizenship, he said.
KMKSZ leader László Brenzovics said that good Hungarian-Ukrainian relations and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration are in Transcarpathian Hungarians’ interests. Minority rights are, however, not up for bargain, he said. “The conflict is a sharp one, but we cannot back down,” he said.
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Hungarian FM: EU is right to back Hungary on Ukraine education law issue
Briefing a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the European Union was right to support Hungary’s claims against Ukraine concerning the new education law’s detrimental effects on minorities.
At a hearing by parliament’s national cohesion committee, Szijjártó said the EU was “unprecedentedly correct” to clearly side with Hungary regarding three expectations: the extant rights of minorities to study in their mother tongue without restriction, the principle that consultations must be held with minorities before decisions affecting them are made, and its backing of the Venice Commission, which has urged Ukrainian lawmakers to make changes to the legislation in question.
Citing the report by the advisory body of the Council of Europe, the minister said that
what had taken place in Ukraine could not be interpreted in any other way than the country had violated its constitutional and international obligations.
The Hungarian government will therefore block all Ukraine’s international initiatives until the situation is settled in a satisfactory way for Transcarpathian Hungarians, he said, adding that Ukraine was in conflict not only with Hungary but with Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, all of which have significant minorities in the country and all of which have written a joint letter to Ukraine on the matter. He added that “un-European and dangerous” nationalism was spreading in the country.
Some of the proposals regarding the new Ukrainian education law would oblige Transcarpathian Hungarian newspapers to be bilingual and would limit the use of the mother tongue in minority television and radio broadcasts. Further theatre performances would make Ukrainian subtitles obligatory, he noted. Moreover, the bill on citizenship proposes prison sentences for people who refuse to own up to their dual citizenship, he added.
Szijjártó also referred to recent instances of the desecration of Hungarian national symbols in western Ukraine as a further example of Ukrainian nationalism gaining traction in the region.
The minister also briefed the committee on the government’s cross-border economic development schemes aimed at helping ethnic Hungarian communities in six countries. He noted the disbursement of 10 billion forints (EUR 3.2m) in funding for farm investments and 30 billion for industrial investments in Vojvodina since 2016. In addition, he gave an account of other funding initiatives worth billions of forints, including the construction of a bridge over the Danube between Hungary and Slovakia and the imminent opening of a new border crossing between Hungary and Ukraine and five new crossings between Hungary and Austria. Other crossings are being inaugurated on the Romanian, Serbian and Slovenian borders with Hungary, he said.
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Hungary committed to Ukraine’s western integration
Hungary is committed to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, independence and integration into the western organisations, including the European Union, four members of the Hungarian parliament’s foreign affairs committee said in a letter addressed to Lithuanian lawmakers.
Zsolt Németh (Fidesz), Rózsa Hoffmann (ChristDems), Attila Mesterházy (Socialists) and Márton Gyöngyösi (Jobbik) responded to a letter in which 37 Lithuanian deputies expressed “shock” over the Hungarian government’s statements about plans to thwart Ukraine’s aspiration towards NATO and the European Union if that country fails to amend parts of its recent education law that regulate education of minorities in their mother tongue.
The Lithuanian MPs said they are “well aware of the huge efforts” Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, are making to halt Ukraine’s European integration. They asked if Hungary was really prepared to pursue goals that comply with Putin’s goals in Ukraine.
The Hungarian MPs noted that Hungary had proven its commitment in crucial moments, for instance by guaranteeing reverse gas flows to Ukraine.
Article 7 of Ukraine’s education law, however, “diverts” the country from western integration for two reasons, they said.
Firstly, if public education in minority languages is restricted to kindergarten and primary school levels, a part of Ukrainian citizens are deprived of an acquired right, a move that is incompatible with “what makes the West West”, they said.
Secondly, in the “current period of conflicts” it would be important for Ukraine to make its citizens interested in its quest of independence. The article in question, however, is counter-productive as the minorities deprived of their language rights “get into a worse situation than they were in the Janukovic era and even during the Soviet times”, they added.
For this reason, Article 7 of the education law fails to pave the way for Ukraine’s European integration.
On the contrary, it serves the interests of those who oppose Ukraine’s western integration, the Hungarian lawmakers argued.
Hungarian FM: Ukraine must implement Venice Commission’s recommendations on education law
Ukraine must fully implement the European Union and the Venice Commission’s recommendations on its education law if it is serious about its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on the sidelines of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels on Monday.
The Venice Commission’s opinion on Ukraine’s education law is “completely clear” and there is only one way to interpret it, Szijjártó told a press conference.
He noted that the commission said that the “proper solution” to the dispute around the law would be amending its controversial Article 7 banning post-primary-level education in minority languages.
Szijjártó repeated that the Hungarian government expects Ukrainian authorities not to take away previously acquired rights from minorities. Further, it expects Ukraine to engage in real and substantive dialogue with national minorities and to fully implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission, he noted.
Hungary cannot support Ukraine’s aspirations on the global stage until there is change on this issue, Szijjártó said.
The Venice Commission published its opinion on Article 7 of the Ukrainian education law on Monday. Though the body acknowledged that Ukraine has a legitimate aim to protect its state language, it said criticisms levelled at the law at home and abroad were justified.
The commission added, at the same time, that the level of protection Article 7 would provide for the linguistic rights of minorities was unclear.
“Article 7 contains important ambiguities and does not appear to provide the guidance needed from a framework law in the application of the country’s international and constitutional obligations,” the opinion adds.
The commission also said that the provision that allows for certain subjects to be taught in English or another official language of the European Union — such as Hungarian, Romanian, Polish or Bulgarian — was discriminatory against the country’s Russian-speaking minority. The opinion noted that the Russian language is the most widely used of all of Ukraine’s regional or minority languages.
On another subject, Szijjártó said security in the Middle East and Africa was closely linked to Europe’s security. Those regions are still highly unstable and this could trigger another migration wave towards Europe in the future, he said.
The fight against the Islamic State militant group “is going well”, but terrorism will take on different forms and try to conquer other regions, he said.
The situation in the Middle East vindicates the Hungarian government’s policy, Szijjártó said.
Europe must avoid encouraging migration in any way, as it poses a risk to the continent as well as migrants’ countries of origin and transit countries, the minister added.
He said help should be provided where it is needed, adding that Hungary will back any measure aimed at launching economic development programmes in the region.
Further, the EU should help member states with their border protection efforts, support Christian communities in the Middle East and Africa and strengthen peacekeeping operations there, Szijjártó added.
Hungary contributes significant efforts to peacekeeping missions relative to its size and the government is looking at ways to expand its role in the UN mission in Mali next year, he said.
As regards Monday’s talks between EU foreign ministers and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Szijjártó said that although “there were some tough questions asked”, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was positive.
Hungary believes the EU and Israel should soon convene another meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council,
Szijjártó said, arguing that economic cooperation must not be allowed to fall prey to political differences.
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Foreign minister: Hungary’s stance on immigration policy reason for LIBE hearing
Had the Hungarian government not adopted its policy on immigration, Thursday’s hearing by the European Parliament’s committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE) would not have taken place, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, told public radio in an interview on Sunday.
The minister said over the past 18 months it had become clear that the political elite in western Europe and the people had begun to diverge.
Szijjártó insisted that
people in western Europe had “encouraged us”, saying “if only their governments would do the same; and finally someone has recognised the dangers inherent in illegal migration”.
“So it was hardly surprising that at the hearing, against all expectations, many more spoke with Hungary than those who spoke against it, and it is not at all surprising that our accusers and condemners were unable to raise a single concrete instance,” he said.
The hearing was “part of the same witch hunt” which has been held against Hungary “for the fourth time in short order”, he said.
The minister said
there was no reason why Hungary should be brought before any EP committee concerning the rule of law.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing outstanding has happened in Hungary to distinguish it from other European Union member states,” Szijjártó said, adding that the country is in mid-field in terms of the number of infringement proceedings.
He said it was necessary to dispel the misconceptions in western Europe that NGOs paint of Hungary.
Szijjártó said that in the judicial phase of the infringement process “we will put forward all the existing arguments: that illegal migration is a danger to Europe and the [mandatory migrant distribution] quota is also dangerous because more and more people will form the idea that they can happily come to Europe”.
“The quota is in any case unworkable because anyone can freely travel between Schengen member states,” he added.
“All this is contrary to European rules, because European treaties say that immigration is a national competence,” the minister said. It is only possible to restrict sovereignty by changing European treaties, but this would be a long, drawn-out process in which national parliaments would have a say rather than the European Commission or one of the ministerial councils in Brussels”, he added.
Meanwhile, on the topic of Ukraine’s education law that restricts teaching in the mother tongue, he said Friday had brought about “a very important victory” at the EU-Ukraine Association Council, since the EU “embraced Hungarian expectations”, making it clear that the EU expects Ukraine not to take away minority rights. Further, it expects Ukraine to engage in real and substantive dialogue with national minorities and to fully implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission, he noted.
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Foreign Minister: EU confirms Hungarian view on Ukraine education law
The Hungarian standpoint on the Ukrainian education law was put forward as the European Union’s position in the Friday meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.
Ukraine passed a law in September which restricts public education in minority languages to kindergarten and primary school levels.
Hungary expects that the Ukrainian authorities should not curb already acquired minority rights, should cooperate with the minorities and fully comply with the Venice Commission’s opinion.
During the meeting, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said the EU expected the same from Ukraine. This “puts an end to the mendacious arguments” that the issue is merely a dispute between Hungary and Ukraine, Szijjártó said.
“The EU has clearly stated its expectations and these fully coincide with Hungary’s expectations,” Szijjártó said, adding that the related law violated Ukraine’s constitution, the closing document of the Eastern Partnership summit and the EU-Ukraine association agreement.
The Ukrainian prime minister told the meeting that Ukraine does not plan to restrict rights, Szijjártó said and expressed hope that the law in question would be brought in line with this approach.
Szijjártó reiterated that until a few months ago, Hungary had been the loudest advocate of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and “it only depends on Ukraine whether the same will happen in the future.” Hungary’s government will only consider the issue resolved if Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority says it has been resolved, he added.
In response to a question, Szijjártó confirmed that the ambassadors of eleven NATO countries had asked him in a letter not to take this matter to the military alliance system. The minister said he had told the ambassadors of Holland and Norway that it would be wrong to interpret the issue as merely a bilateral dispute which Hungary had taken to NATO.
“We do not consider the situation between Russia and Ukraine as an excuse in any way for depriving ethnic Hungarian minorities of their rights; the two have nothing in common,”
Szijjártó said, adding that the letter had not been signed by the representatives of either the United States or any Visegrád Group country.
The minister declined to comment on a US decision concerning the status of Jerusalem but said the government had not addressed the issue and there was no change in Hungary’s policy towards the Middle East.
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Foreign minister: Hungary Germany’s ‘most loyal’ EU peer
The 800 million euros Hungary has spent on border protection makes it Germany’s “most loyal European country”, the Hungarian foreign minister said in Vienna on Thursday.
Szijjártó reacted to recent remarks by German Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz, who said “Hungary is getting further and further away from the EU”.
In remarks to MTI, Szijjártó said that had Hungary not invested in border protection, “many more than 1.5 million migrants” would have come to Europe and “the vast majority would certainly have ended up in Germany”.
He added the Hungarian government had spent that sum on the border rather than on the economy, “saving Germany from further burdens”.
In Vienna, Szijjártó attended a plenary of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and proposed that the organisation should deploy observers to Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region. He argued that Hungary was concerned about Ukraine’s new education law, which curbs the rights of ethnic minorities to education in their mother tongue.
Szijjártó also proposed fortifying protections for persecuted Christians. He urged that the “monstrosities” committed against Christian communities should not go unpunished and the international community should “make a guarantee” that Christians in the Middle East can return to their homelands as soon as “the conflicts are over”.
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Szijjarto: Ukraine fails to fulfil NATO obligations by violating minority rights
Ukraine has failed to fulfil its NATO obligations by seriously violating minority rights through the enactment of its new education law, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday during a break in the two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
In an annual national programme, Ukraine has promised to respect and develop minority rights but its approval of the education law goes completely against this, he said.
Hungary will not sacrifice the interests of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia “on the altar of any geopolitical game” and will not accept NATO’s approval of the situation caused by Ukraine.
If it is important to Ukraine for it to restore cooperation with NATO then it must withdraw the education law, he added.
Szijjártó also said that during the recent 5th EU-Africa summit in Abidjan it became clear that international forecasts, including by NATO, were justified concerning the repeat of significant pressure of migration coming from the south. It is in Europe’s interest to be in a position to stop the pressure of migration from the south, and NATO must play a role in this because the European Union is unable to do it alone, he said. The terrorist attacks of the past two years have proven that migration poses the most serious security challenge to Europe, he added.
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