Deputy foreign minister holds talks with former Ukraine minister Klimkin

Ties between Hungary and Ukraine have been burdened by serious disputes surrounding the rights of Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority, the ministry cited Magyar as saying.

Magyar said he and Klimkin had discussed the steps the two countries could take now and in the near future “to restore bilateral relations on a political level to the healthy situation they had been in before the mid-2010s”.

“We concluded that there are no insurmountable obstacles preventing this,” Magyar said. The two countries have to settle the issues around the situation of Transcarpathia Hungarians, “which we believe there is every chance to accomplish”, he added.

Magyar said he will pay a visit to Kyiv early next month for talks with partners he expects to take steps concerning this issue. Talks will also touch on the humanitarian assistance Hungary is providing to Ukraine, he added.

“We will explore how we can deepen and broaden this activity in the interest of mitigating the effects of the destructive war” and reducing the suffering of the people, Magyar said.