Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Bohdan Yaremenko says Hungary and Ukraine should work to reach an agreement on the existing issues, but compromise cannot concern core things, in particular the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.
During the international discussion "Ukraine-Hungary: on the path to mutual understanding," he said Hungary would not pursue such a policy with regard to Ukraine, which Russia adheres to.
"Hungary is not an adversary. All the issues that we have with Hungary the latter will never be able to escalate to the level that our other neighbors can, or that our one neighbor can, with whom we are already at war," Yaremenko said.
Read alsoHungarian envoy says Budapest does not impede Ukraine's NATO integration
"It seems to me this is the basis for understanding what we must do to settle our issues with Hungary – to negotiate. Talk and negotiate," he said.
"A compromise around core things cannot be the basis for future agreements, but our integration with NATO and our integration with the EU also belong to these core things. We cannot sacrifice these, either," Yaremenko said.
"How to find this delicate balance between questions of the internal peace in Ukraine and issues of self-identification, issues of forming the identity of our nation, to which, of course, linguistic and educational matters are of paramount importance, and questions of foreign policy priorities – this should be the topic of wide discussion," Yaremenko added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, relations between the two countries slid to a chill after the Ukrainian parliament in 2017 passed a new education law.
Hungary has since been blocking the meetings of Ukraine-NATO Commission, claiming alleged violation of rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine due to the provision of the law that determines that the language of command in educational facilities shall be the state language, which is Ukrainian.
According to the conclusion of the Venice Commission of Dec 8, 2017, Ukrainian authorities were recommended to balance the provision of the language article of Law "On Education".
On February 14, 2018, the Cabinet of Ministers approved Bill No. 8046, prolonging the transitional period for the implementation of the language article until 2023.
The draft law is being considered by parliamentary committees.
