Hungary opposes Ukraine-NATO Commission - Szijjarto

• 

Hungary will not agree to the formation of a Ukraine-NATO commission until Kiev gives back the rights to the Hungarian national minority, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday.

"They say that we prevented the convening of an official meeting of the Ukraine-NATO commission. There is nothing new and nothing surprising in our position. A few years ago we made it clear that we will not agree to the convocation of this commission (Ukraine-NATO) until Ukraine returns the rights to the Transcarpathian Hungarians," Szijjarto said on social media.

Budapest has not touched upon this issue since the beginning of Russia's special operation and is not going to do it now, the diplomat said.

"We hope that peace will come as soon as possible, and then this issue can be discussed again," he added.

Hungary was the only country in the European Union to refuse to support Brussels' initiative to train the Ukrainian army in Europe, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in October, highlighting that his country would not participate in the EU's training of Kiev's soldiers.

The country is the only European Union member state to take such a stance, with its foreign minister explaining Budapest's position by underlining that it supported peace efforts rather than escalation.

It has been staunchly opposed to the European Union's policies against Russian since the onset of the Ukraine war, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban refusing to impose sanctions on Russia the way the rest of the bloc was, in addition to various other anti-Russian measures.

Also, Hungary said in November that it will continue to provide bilateral assistance to Ukraine but will not support the European Union's plan to borrow jointly from international capital markets to finance Ukraine.

The support would be in the form of highly concessional long-term loans, the European Commission said, adding that it will cover the interest costs and work will be carried out to support Ukraine’s reforms and its path toward EU membership.