Hungary will continue to block NATO-Ukraine Council meetings

Hungary will continue to block NATO-Ukraine Council meetings until the minority rights are restored in Ukraine.

“Hungary will continue to block NATO-Ukraine Council meetings until minority rights are restored in Ukraine, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, told lawmakers on Tuesday,” Hungary Today reports.

Szijjártó called “absurd” portrayal of Hungary’s stance on the global stage as a Russia-friendly policy.

Szijjártó said that the community of 150,000 ethnic Hungarians “is more important than any geopolitical matter.”

He also noted that his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, who had been asked by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to work towards restoring bilateral relations, would visit Budapest on March 26.

“We’re ready and we’ll also make sensible suggestions,” Szijjártó added.

He said that in terms of Hungary’s bilateral ties with neighboring countries, its relations with Ukraine were the most challenging. “Whereas Hungary supports Ukraine on matters of territorial integrity and sovereignty, it must keep in mind the many violations in legislation of Hungarian national minority rights,” the Hungarian minister noted.

As reported, Hungary blocks the participation of Ukraine at the level of defense and foreign ministers at the NATO format level because of the language provision of the Ukrainian law on education.

On September 28, 2017, the Law of Ukraine "On Education" entered into force, which determines that the language of instruction in educational establishments is the state language. The educational program may provide for teaching one or several disciplines in two or more languages.

Some countries, in particular Hungary, criticized the law because it allegedly restricts the rights of national minorities. On January 16, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of “On Complete General Secondary Education” which regulates, in particular, the provision of secondary education in the languages of national minorities.

Afterward, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine expressed hope that Hungary would unblock Ukraine-NATO high-level dialogue.

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