ST. PETERSBURG, September 1. /TASS/. Budapest will continue defending rights of ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine," Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with TASS.

"We have a national position in this regard. So, regardless of any kind of pressure which comes from outside we have a national position. Our national position is the following. First of all, we stand up for the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine. Second, we do not believe that the conflict on the eastern side of Ukraine could be an excuse for state authorities in Ukraine to violate the rights of the Hungarians," he said. "So, we stick to the protection or stick to the respect towards the rights of our national minority in Ukraine. Our national minority is clearly an indigenous minority in Ukraine since our communities have been living there for centuries. So, they are not migrants, they have always lived there. So, that’s why we cannot accept any kind of violation of their rights."

According to the minister, a negative trend has been observed in Ukraine in this regard. "We continue the discussion with the Ukrainian authorities. And we will always continue it because I think discussion must be there because if we don’t have dialogue we don’t have hope. But still, those rights which were given to the Hungarians before 2017 are not given back," Szijjarto added.

At the same time, the top Hungarian diplomat stressed that this position regarding ethnic minorities in Ukraine is not linked to the bilateral ties between Moscow and Budapest. "I always tell our Russian colleagues that this position of ours regarding the national minorities has nothing to do with our relationship with Russia. Because what is usually said there is this position of ours regarding the minority in Ukraine pleases Russia. I say, I don’t care. Because the reason why I protect the rights of Hungarians in Ukraine has no Russian aspect. This is a very complicated picture," he concluded.