Hungary and Ukraine sign agreement on opening new border crossing point
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the new crossing station will be the sixth between the two countries.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the new crossing station will be the sixth between the two countries.
The foreign minister said the Hungarian government has taken further steps in recent weeks “so that we can again talk about mutual trust in Hungary-Ukraine relations.
Minister Szijjártó will hold talks with the Ukrainian foreign minister on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday.
An agreement had been reached to open a new border crossing with Ukraine, between Nagyhódos in Hungary and Velyka Palad (Nagypalád).
“We stand for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. We condemn the war and want peace in our neighborhood,” the foreign minister said.
The foreign minister said bilateral ties had deteriorated because the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians have been curbed again and again since 2015.
Minister Szijjártó said he hoped to touch on all the important issues in bilateral relations, especially that of the “curbed rights of the Hungarian minority and the long-term future of bilateral relations.”
The foreign minister said a Hungary-Ukraine summit “would make sense only” if it was well-prepared.
Minister Szijjártó said Hungary had a vested interest in maintaining good relations with all its neighbors.
The foreign minister met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels on Monday.
The request for a high-level meeting comes as Hungary has stated its opposition to a proposal to start talks on European Union membership for Ukraine.
Zoltán Kovács said Ukrainian “political showdowns” demonstrate that Ukraine was not ready for European Union membership.
The defense minister said Hungary is committed to promoting an immediate ceasefire and peace talks.