Hungarian Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Budapest had secured from Brussels the inclusion of the requirement to protect national minorities in the draft document on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
“After a lively debate tonight (14 June – ed.) in Brussels, an agreement was reached: all Hungarian conditions were included in the framework document of negotiations with Ukraine,” the diplomat wrote on Facebook.
The Hungarian foreign minister emphasised that the draft document on Kiev’s accession to the EU now includes a clause: “Ukraine must return the rights taken away from the Hungarian-Zakarpattians over the past few years”.
“We all take the position that respect for the rights of national minorities must be a prerequisite for any progress. Some member states did not want to hear about it, but we made it clear that we insist on the restoration of minority rights dedicated to the preservation of national identity and the study of mother tongue”, – concluded Peter Szijjarto.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the “minimum condition” for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was the fact of victory in the conflict with Russia.
