Kuleba: Disputes with Hungary over national minorities – a consequence of Russia's invasion in 2014
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, said that when commenting on the issues of national minorities, which, according to his Hungarian counterpart, began in 2015, it is worth remembering that this is a consequence of the events of 2014, when Russia attacked Ukraine. In an interview with Telex, he also noted that on January 29 in Uzhhorod, Szijjarto first stated that the adopted policy changes on national minorities stopped the negative spiral that was characteristic of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.
The foreign minister noted that Ukraine, like Hungary, has a specific political situation. Szijjarto said that discussions on the Law on National Minorities began in 2015, but Kuleba emphasized that it was a direct result of the events of 2014, when Russia attacked Ukraine under the pretext of "protecting the Russian-speaking population."
Kuleba noted that after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territories in 2014, Ukrainian society reacted very sensitively to the language issue and its political use.
"Just as there are political forces in Hungary that make anti-Ukraine statements, at that time we also had political forces that wanted to implement the law in that form," he said.
The minister noted that in fact, the disputes that Ukraine is dealing with in Hungarian-Ukrainian relations and the problems that it wants to solve are the consequences of Russian aggression.
In addition, Kuleba said that the Hungarian Foreign Minister stated for the first time that the adopted amendments to the Law on National Minorities stopped the negative spiral that had characterized Ukrainian-Hungarian relations until now. According to him, it is also important that Szijjarto emphasized his support for the territorial unity and sovereignty of Ukraine.
During the meeting in Uzhhorod, Szijjarto said that the Hungarian side had formulated an 11-point request to Ukraine regarding the rights of national minorities. In particular, the country asks the Ukrainian side to return the rights to its national minority that it enjoyed before 2015.
Ukraine became a candidate country for accession to the European Union in 2022. At the same time, the European Commission provided Ukraine with an action plan to be implemented in order to start negotiations on accession. One of the points was the requirement to complete the reform of the legal framework for national minorities and develop mechanisms for its implementation.
On November 3, 2023, President Zelenskyy signed the law on national communities.
On December 8, the Rada approves a bill amending some laws on minority rights.
On December 21, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban announces that his government is studying the changes to the legislation on national minorities adopted by Ukraine.
Read also: Szijjártó: A long way to a meeting between Zelensky and Orban – Ukraine must fulfil conditions
