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Ukraine needs to make serious changes to join NATO, Hungarian top diplomat emphasizes

Budapest is dissatisfied with the situation with the rights of the Hungarian national community in Ukraine, Peter Szijjarto also pointed out

NEW YORK, January 20. /TASS/. Ukraine should carry out a number of major changes if it is seriously planning to join the North Atlantic Alliance, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told TASS on Thursday.

"The Ukrainians have to make some major changes in case they really think seriously about Euro-Atlantic integration. And I'll tell you one very specific issue: this is the respect of the rights of the national minorities because here Ukraine falls short of our expectations," he said.

Szijjarto pointed out that Budapest is dissatisfied with the situation with the rights of the Hungarian national community in Ukraine. "Their rights are being violated, their rights regarding the use of their native language in education, in public administration, in culture and religion have been shrinking. And the law, which would forbid double citizens to all public offices is very antidemocratic," he maintained. "We understand the challenges Ukraine is facing, the standoff for their sovereignty and territorial integrity, but we will never accept this kind of approach towards national minorities."

Szijjarto is in New York to participate in UN events.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released two draft agreements on security guarantees for the United States and NATO. One of the things Russia insists on is a guarantee from NATO that it will not expand any further eastwards and that Ukraine will not be admitted to the Western-led bloc. Apart from that, Russia insists on a ban on the deployment of serious offensive weapons, including nuclear arms. The Russian-US consultations on security guarantees were held in Geneva on January 10. On January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held in Brussels and the OSCE Permanent Council gathered for a meeting in Vienna on January 13.