Relations between Kyiv and Budapest have been strained ever since Ukraine’s Parliament adopted the law “On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language” in September 2017.īudapest insists that changes to Ukrainian education and language laws curtail minority rights and Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government is also at odds with Ukraine because it does not allow ethnic Hungarians there to hold dual citizenship.ĭue to the dispute, Hungary continues to block Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO and the holding of Ukraine-NATO Commission talks.

The recent incident is not the only occasion where Budapest, a NATO member since 1999, has obstructed Ukraine’s ambitions to tighten military and economic links with the EU and NATO. Since these proposals were rejected, “we had no other choice than to veto the declaration”, Szijjártó added.Īccording to Szijjártó, “it would be a sign of at least some minimal allied solidarity” for a joint statement to say something about infringements on the rights of an ethnic minority group related to one of the member states. “We even made recommendations that refer to the Council of Europe and the United Nations in regards to minority issues,” said the foreign minister. Szijjártó said Hungary had submitted several amendment proposals to the declaration stating that Ukraine must fulfil its duties towards minorities according to international law.

“Hungary won’t surrender the Transcarpathian Hungarian community to geopolitics,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced after Budapest refused to approve the NATO Ambassadors statement.

Hours before a Russian state visit to Budapest on Wednesday (30 October), Hungary vetoed a joint NATO statement about Ukraine because it did not mention the “deprivation of rights” of the Hungarian minority in the neighbouring country’s Transcarpathia region.

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