Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says his country would like improve relations with Ukraine amid a dispute over a controversial language law.
The remarks came on February 7 during a visit to Kyiv by Szijjarto, his first trip to Hungary’s eastern neighbor since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected last year.
“The Hungarian government is interested in renewing good neighborly relations with Ukraine,” Szijjarto said during a news conference with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Kyiv in 2017 passed a law that emphasizes the instruction of Ukrainian in publicly funded schools and curtails the teaching of Russian and other minority languages, such as Romanian and Hungarian.
The Council of Europe’s constitutional experts have criticized the language legislation and previous regulations regarding educational institutions signed into law by the country’s previous president, Petro Poroshenko.
Hungary, in particular, opposes the law, saying it restricts the right of Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority of approximately 125,000 people to be educated in their native language.
Kyiv maintains the legislation is designed to ensure that all Ukrainian citizens can speak the state’s official language, and it denies the law is discriminatory.
Hungarians are the largest minority group in Transcarpathia, a western Ukrainian region that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
“We want the Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia to have the opportunity to preserve their native language,” Szijjarto said.
Szijjarto said he “made a couple of suggestions” in a meeting with Ukraine’s education minister to resolve the situation and urged Kyiv to consider them.
Kuleba said Ukraine wants Transcarpathia to become “a success story, thanks to the joint efforts of Ukraine and Hungary.”
Hungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has threatened to stymie Ukraine’s aspirations of joining the organizations until matters dividing the countries are resolved.
With reporting by AFP and Interfax
(c) RFL
Just go away. And stay away!
He’s just relaying Putin’s latest proposals.
So a discussion is totally out of the question?
I see.
However, about the minority, there is a solution.
I am just a civilian without any Influence and power what so ever, but they should consider an offer to the hungarians in Ukraine to move to Hungary, help them with the finances and so on.
That’s a win win, Hungary are helping it’s population, and they are doing it good so far, and sinse ukrainians don’t like the hungarians in Ukraine this is a very good idea.
But, as i said, i am just a civilian without any power, and so are you i guess.
I clean the toilets in a burger joint…
Yeah, sure.
I can vouch for mike being the Toilet cleaner because I am the bloke that cleans his equipment.
Yeah, now i am sure of it, of course.
That is what putler should be doing. Cleaning the shithouse in a burger joint that serves shitburgers in hell.
“…[sic] sinse ukrainians don’t like the hungarians in Ukraine…”
Do you have some proof for your lame claim, little guy?
Ok, so there is not really a problem then, is that what you are saying?
Of course i was wrong in my statement there should be a general hostility between the two groups, however, whats your opinion then?
You claim that Ukrainians don’t like Hungarians in the country. I want to see proof of that from you. What do you not understand about my request? Is it too complex?
It was to complex to read i admit i was wrong about general hostility between hungarian minority and ukrainians?
Read it again!
But ok, you wan’t some proof about the hostility that exists?
Fine.
https://youtu.be/WQYLW4cTsLM
I do believe it’s just a tiny minority fighting and they are not representative for ukrainians in general, i am sorry for my clumsy assumption.
However, i do think they should return or i should rather say move to Hungary and unite with their mother land.
Yes, you’re right. A tiny minority don’t want Hungarians in the country. But, idiots can be found in every country. There are no exceptions. The Ukrainians that I know have nothing against Hungarians whatsoever. They are much more concerned about mafia land and corruption in the country and other, more pressing problems.
It’s not the Hungarians in Ukraine that are the problem, but the Hungarians doing Russia’s bidding. ie Orban etc.
Yes, there are problems, huge problems to deal with and the last thing needed is an even more shattered nation.
“We want the Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia to have the opportunity to preserve their native language,” Szijjarto said.
The solution is simple, let them live in Hungary, or if they want to learn Hungarian, let these kids learn from their parents.
It would be interesting to hear what proposals he has. Might it be: ‘Do what we ask or uncle putler’s scum army will have to go in to ‘protect’ Orbanistani speakers’.
If Ukraine capitulated to the Putin puppets, entry to NATO for Ukraine is still very much a distant dream. NATO still have enough Putin appeasers to block any attempts by Ukraine to join.
“We want the Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia to have the opportunity to preserve their native language,” Szijjarto said.
The Hungarians are totally free in Ukraine to learn and to speak their native language. No one is stopping them. However, Ukrainian is the official country language, taught in all the schools. This is no different than in any other country on earth. Live with it or go fly a kite.
Except Britain, whose schools actually employ staff to teach immigrants who should not be there in the first place, to speak English. Fuckin outrageous!
A friend of mine went to Cyprus with her kid and tried to enroll him at a state primary school. They asked her if he speaks Greek. She said ‘no’. They said ‘in that case we can’t take him’. Simple as that.
Yes, that is indeed outrageous. But, it’s part of Europe’s self-immolation. While the own citizens and government pamper foreigners from all over the world and in a myriad of aspects, they themselves must do with less since there is only so much money, teachers, housing, jobs and etc. available. Thus, I fully agree with Trump’s policy; America first. Maybe Europe will one day awake from the dream of “multiculturalism”. It is a pipedream, a failure across the board, in particular with people from Muslim countries and Africa. Maybe with Brexit now a reality, Britain will start concentrating more on its own people. We’ll see.
Hear Hear.
I doubt they see the difference since it doesn’t advance their attempts to continue the Kremlin policy to destroy Ukrainian culture. Zelensky should come out and say he will support a foreign language school for every one opened in their countries. Again, there are ZERO in Hungary and Muskovia.
I know a lot of ‘foreign’ people that live in the UK, they all speak English with varying abilities and certainly better than I speak their languages.
Their children have all gone to English Schools and been taught in English. However, they also all speak their Parent’s native language as well.
If a minority wish their children to be taught in their native language, let them found their own Schools. They will soon see how that works.
I do not deny there could be some hatred against ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine.\
That’s bad, but I think the whole issue with Hungary has nothing to do with that.
Requiring your citizens to speak the state language at school is to most sensible thing you could demand them to do, as they have no future without being able to speak Ukrainian. You cannot go to a university or obtain a job and participate in Ukrainian life.
Orban is just another Putler appeaser, and he thinks Putler will be pleased when he notices Hungary is bullying Ukraine.
Not that it matters: Ukraine will never be admitted to NATO as long as the Donbas and Crimea are occupied.