Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin views the results of the recent Hungarian elections as a positive development for us. However, the diplomat anticipates difficult discussions with the new Hungarian government regarding contentious issues.
He spoke about this in an interview with Ukrinform.
“I do not consider the results of the Hungarian elections to be a turning point. This is a positive development for Hungary, for the EU, and for us. It also means that Hungary will not disrupt the consensus on resolving certain issues within the European Union. For example, issues regarding sanctions, our loan—which we critically need—and certain European integration issues. But this also does not mean that absolute unity and solidarity have returned to the EU. That will not happen, including in relation to us. So this is a genuinely positive shift. May we breathe a sigh of relief? Yes, because there are critical issues for us—the ones I mentioned—that have gained new momentum. Can we say that everything will now be wonderful and rosy with Hungary? Of course not. Because we will still have difficult discussions with them,” the diplomat explains.
He notes that Hungary’s new government has already changed its rhetoric regarding Ukraine. At the same time, Klimkin predicts that discussions will continue regarding the Hungarians of the Zakarpattia region, European integration issues, market access, and so on. These discussions will still be led by Péter Magyar, who will defend pro-Hungarian positions, since he is a pro-Hungarian prime minister.
“He ran for office on a platform positioning himself as Orbán’s opposition from the right wing rather than the left wing, had always been the case before. And in modern Hungarian politics, he cannot be someone who yields to anyone. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a sensible conversation with him, but it will still be a difficult conversation,” Klimkin believes.
He advises the Ukrainian authorities not to wait for signals from Budapest, but to make a joint gesture toward one another as soon as possible and begin discussions on various topics. Such a meeting could take place either at the level of national leaders or at the government level. The venue could be the Zakarpattia region, Budapest, or even Brussels. It is important that these be joint steps so that no one perceives them as concessions to one another.
As reported by Ukrinform, Volodymyr Zelensky plans to meet with Péter Magyar after the shift in power in Hungary.
