Szijjarto: Hungary has vested interest in eastern Ukraine peace

Addressing a joint press conference with Kuleba, Szijjarto said he had delivered ten more ventilators to Ukraine. Hungary has so far delivered 110 ventilators and several sets of protective gear worth over a combined 3.5 billion forints (EUR 9.7m) to its north-eastern neighbour, the minister said.

“The fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic is here, and it is important for Hungary’s safety that its neighbours, too, can mount an effective defence against it,” he said.

Szijjarto said he had reached an agreement to allow Ukrainian citizens transit through Hungary by road and by railway towards western Europe.

In response to a question from MTI, Szijjarto noted that Hungary and Ukraine have agreed to mutually recognise each other’s immunity certificates. Moreover, people living in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region are eligible to register for a jab in Hungary irrespective of their nationality, he said.

Meanwhile, Szijjarto said that the two countries’ experts had agreed on the implementation of border controls at the border crossing between Nagyhodos and Velyka Palad (Nagypalad).

On another subject, the minister said the Hungarian-Ukrainian working group on vaccination was set to reconvene on Sept. 16. He expressed hope that the two sides would make progress in their talks on the issue of Hungarian-language education in Ukraine’s Hungarian schools. Meanwhile, the Hungarian-Ukrainian economic mixed committee is scheduled to meet on Sept. 29-30, he said.

Szijjarto said he was the first official from a country holding the presidency of the Council of Europe to visit eastern Ukraine’s war zone. He noted that Hungary had contributed funds to the renovation of a clinic in Stanytsia Luhanska, and 140,000 euros to the CoE’s action plan on Ukraine.

“Also there are 21 Hungarians serving in the OSCE’s special monitoring mission in the war zone,” he noted.

Szijjarto and Kuleba signed an agreement on the mutual recognition of their countries’ higher education degrees.

Kuleba said they had agreed to erect a monument honouring Ukraine’s fallen soldiers in Budapest, while Ukraine will allow Hungary to expand its military cemetery in the Transcarpathian village of Pidpolozzja (Vezerszallas).

In response to a question from MTI, the minister said the Ukrainian government was conducting the second round of consultations on its bill on national minority rights. Kiev is looking to enact a “progressive law” that will allow minority communities living in Ukraine to preserve their identities and use both their mother tongue and the Ukrainian language.