NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg calls on Hungary and Ukraine to resolve the existing dispute as soon as possible to ensure that a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission is held within the framework of the NATO summit in Brussels scheduled for July.
"We discussed different issues including also the possibility of having a NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting at the Summit. It's well known that there are some differences between Hungary and Ukraine which have made it not possible to have a meeting at the ministerial level but we are still urging Ukraine and Hungary to try to find a solution to the differences as quickly as possible," he said Friday, speaking at a press conference in Brussels following a Foreign Ministers' summit and commenting on his Thursday talks with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
Stoltenberg noted that "Hungary is a highly-valued Ally" that "contributes to NATO collective defense," adding that Ukraine is a "partner" of NATO and a "victim of Russian aggression."
As UNIAN reported earlier, in March, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto demanded that Ukraine amend its newly-adopted education law, which he deems a threat to a Hungarian minority living in Ukraine, and postpone its implementation until 2023, otherwise Budapest will block meetings important for Ukraine at the level of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Head of Ukraine's Permanent Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Vadym Prystaiko, says that the decision to hold the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission within the framework of the Alliance summit in Brussels this July depends on Hungary and all of the Allies.
The comments came as Prystaiko spoke with Ukrainian journalists in Brussels today, following a statement by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto that the holding of the meeting depends on Ukraine
Prystaiko stressed: "We are ready, and the president is ready to come in July to attend the summit."
