Hungary continues to block the possibility of holding the Ukraine-NATO Commission at the highest level, said Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivan Klimpush-Tsintsadze.
On 24 May, the Hungarian Government announced it has submitted a memorandum to NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that calls on the Alliance to adopt a new policy with relation to Ukraine, due to the perceived inability of the Ukrainian Government to uphold the rule of law and provide economic, social and political leadership in spite of the unprecedented level of political and financial support from the West.
For the reasons quoted above, the memorandum states that Ukraine has become “a security challenge to its neighbours, including Hungary”, and that NATO should adjust its policy so as to face this new reality. In addition to decrying Ukraine’s decision to restore the Beregovo military base near the Hungarian border, the memorandum’s core concern is with the Ukrainian education law, which came into force last September and introduced changes to the national minorities language of instruction. The Hungarians used the dispute as a motive to obstruct NATO-Ukraine working summits. Viktor Orban’s government further complains that the Ukrainians have not fulfilled their promise to revise the legislation in accordance with the Venice Commission recommendations. The document also proposes that the minority groups belonging to NATO member states should be exempted from the regulations. In response to Hungarian request, a NATO representative has confirmed on 25 May for the Ukrainian news agency European Pravda that the Alliance does not intend to amend its Ukraine policy.