Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is ready to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week. The Prime Minister announced this on Tuesday in Berlin after a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. With reference to the 24.hu server, the correspondent of TASR in Budapest informs about it.
Talks between Kyiv and Budapest on the issue of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine are currently taking place at a technical level, Magyar said.
Planned meeting with Ukraine
“So far these negotiations are going very well and we hope to conclude them on a technical level this week. I am ready to meet with the Ukrainian president sometime early next week if we agree on these basic human rights,” the Hungarian prime minister added.
Magyar emphasized that it is nothing more than the fact that anyone from the minority can use their native language, for example, in kindergarten. He pointed out that if someone wants to join the EU, he must guarantee these rights. He himself is an optimist and declared on behalf of the government that Budapest is ready to open a new chapter in Hungarian-Ukrainian relations.
Support of Hungary in the EU
The German chancellor assured the new Hungarian prime minister of his full support in leading his country “back to the center of Europe”, DPA recalled. Magyar declared that Hungary will be an “honest and reliable partner” in Europe. At the same time, he added that “of course we will not always agree, but we will not veto anything just out of principle. I believe in negotiations,” the DPA agency quoted the head of the Hungarian government as saying.
At the same time, Merz pointed out the Russian threat to NATO and the European Union, which poses fundamental challenges for the continent, and therefore it is important that the member countries stick together. According to him, it would be very helpful if Hungary also followed this path.
The Federal Chancellor further noted that he is aware that the issue of the EU’s attitude towards Ukraine is more difficult for Budapest due to the Hungarian minority, but he emphasized that this cannot be at the expense of the Union’s support for Ukraine and should not deter it from officially starting accession negotiations with Kyiv.
