UNITED NATIONS, September 20. /TASS/. Although Hungary stands by the Kiev government in its conflict with Russia and supports Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, it also demands that Kiev respect the rights of national minorities, Hungarian President Katalin Novak has told the UN General Assembly.
"Hungary stands for the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine. We understand Ukraine's desire to be part of the community of European countries, thus we expect it to uphold the values that characterise our community, including - expressly - the protection and full guarantee of the rights of national minorities. Not in words, in deeds," she said.
Earlier, the government of Hungary has repeatedly warned that it would not support Ukraine’s European integration until the Kiev government stops violating the rights of Hungarian minorities in Transcarpathia, including the right to be educated in their native language in local schools and universities.
Speaking from the UN rostrum, the president recalled that Ukraine is home to 115,000 ethnic Hungarians, who also suffer as a result of the Kiev government’s ongoing conflict with Russia.
"This war also directly affects us Hungarians. It is not just in our neighbourhood," she said. "Thus we want peace. In our country, in Ukraine, in Europe, in the world. Peace and the security that comes with it."
The president added that her country favors an immediate ceasefire and the launch of peace talks.
"We know that peace is only realistically attainable when at least one side sees the time for negotiations as having come. We cannot decide for Ukrainians about how much they are prepared to sacrifice, but we have a duty to represent our own nation's desire for peace. And we must do all we can to avoid an escalation of the war," she said, addressing heads of states and governments, who gathered in the UN General Assembly’s hall.