Hungary will not lift its veto on Ukraine's accession negotiations to the European Union until the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia are restored.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, after a telephone conversation with the head of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who visited Kiev a week ago.
„Today, I discussed the ongoing violations of the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia and Ukraine's efforts for integration by phone with my new Austrian colleague. I appreciate Beate Meinl-Reisinger's willingness to help, but the situation remains such that the Ukrainian government, despite constant promises and kind words, has still not returned to the Hungarian community the rights taken away from it in 2015. This is unacceptable and completely contrary to European rules and values," Szijjártó wrote on Facebook.
"Therefore, as long as this sad situation continues, there can be no talk of any progress in the negotiations for Ukraine's accession to the EU," the Hungarian minister concluded.
The Hungarian government opposes Ukraine's accession to the EU not only because of the violation of the rights of national minorities in the country, but also because, according to the country's leadership, its accelerated accession to the community would cause irreparable damage to the European economy.
According to Orbán, this will lead the European Union to economic collapse. At the Brussels summit on March 20, the Hungarian prime minister refused to support a joint statement on Ukraine that would have accelerated its accession to the EU and provided billions of euros in military aid. A referendum on the issue will be held in Hungary in the near future. Budapest said it would be guided by the results of consultations with Brussels.