Hungarian Foreign Minister explains why Zelenskyy and Orbán’s meeting is impossible now

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Photo: Getty Images

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has explained why Budapest currently considers a meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy impossible.

Source: Szijjártó at a press conference, reported by MTI

Details: Szijjártó claimed that the Ukrainian government had not provided any proposals that would contain progress on the full restoration of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia Oblast that were in effect before 2015.

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“Unfortunately, we have to state that the response document that our Ukrainian counterparts sent us does not contain any progress in this area,” he said.

Szijjártó added that an official response would be sent to Kyiv on Wednesday.

“Until Ukraine adopts the necessary legislation to restore the rights of the Hungarian national community, the conditions for a meeting at the highest level simply cannot be created,” Szijjártó added.

Background:

• The day before, Szijjártó told Russian propagandists that a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would not take place in the near future, as the preconditions for it were not ready.
• At the end of January, Szijjártó said that there was a “long way to go” before Zelenskyy and Orbán met and that it would take place after Kyiv fulfilled Budapest’s conditions.
• Szijjártó noted that if Ukraine fulfilled Hungary’s conditions, it would create a “clean slate” in bilateral relations and allow for a meeting at the highest level.

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