The Hungarian government has vetoed the upcoming NATO-Ukraine summit, the foreign minister has revealed.
Péter Szijjártó, minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said it’s impossible to support the country’s bid to join the alliance after Ukraine passed its new education law “brutally mutilating” minority rights.
“Hungary cannot support Ukraine's integration aspirations, so it vetoed the NATO-Ukraine summit in December,” the minister said.
The minister also highlighted how Hungary had been the most vocal supporter of Kiev’s NATO accession bid, but considers their new educaiton law as a “stab in the back.”
Minister Szijjártó recently said that Ukraine’s education law was also in violation of human rights. He said the law, which bans post-primary-level education in minority languages, would make the continued operations of 71 Hungarian-language schools in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region impossible.
The minister said the Hungarian government is ready to discuss the law with Ukraine, and the success of any such talks hinged on Ukraine repealing or at least suspending the implementation of elements of the law “that severely violate” minority rights.