During the meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Hungarian Commission on Economic Cooperation, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto discussed the prospects for a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which could be held late July, Deputy Foreign Minister Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar has said.
“The prospects of holding a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban were discussed. Tentatively, this may be the end of July. The Hungarian side promised to provide its groundwork on the text of the memorandum that we proposed to them during the visit of Minister Dmytro Kuleba to Budapest,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Bodnar called the negotiations within the framework of the Commission in Kyiv successful and constructive.
“The fact of holding the meeting of the commission after seven years of break is a definite impetus. The ministers personally agreed and signed the corresponding protocol. They agreed to facilitate the holding of two additional commissions on national minorities and educational issues in the coming weeks, and measures will be taken to prepare a cross-border commission for development of border infrastructure,” he said.
In addition, according to the deputy minister, the parties found understanding regarding measures to overcome the consequences of floods in the Carpathian region.
“Our side has come up with a proposal to attract the Multinational Engineer Battalion Tisa, which task is to help the population during floods,” he said.
Bodnar added that all issues have not been resolved, disagreements remain, but they are trying to reduce them to a clear solution algorithm. He called the improvement of Ukrainian legislation in the part of the implementation of one of the recommendations of the Venice Commission, namely the development of a new law on national minorities, as one of the ways to address the issue of ensuring the rights of national minorities in the field of education.
“For us, the adopted laws on education and the state language remain the red lines. The rights of national minorities in the field of education can be ensured in the context of private schools, as well as improving Ukrainian legislation as part of the implementation of one of the recommendations of the Venice Commission, namely the development of a new law on national minorities. These are the ways in which we can go further in dialogue with each other and solving existing problems, disagreements and approach our positions. We are going to a meeting between the president and the prime minister counting on this,” he said.
When asked whether the parties would agree on the issue of education before the meeting between Zelensky and Orban, Bodnar replied that progress was likely to be made.
“I think that there will be progress. But I do not know if we can finally resolve the issue. I would not be in a hurry with such conclusions. We are committed to constructive proposals and to the result, but this result should be mutually acceptable,” he said.
