Kiev (MTI) – Kiev counts on Hungary’s support in its request that a special session of the European Council should be convened if a ceasefire is not enforced in eastern Ukraine by Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said after holding talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Kiev on Friday.
Poroshenko said French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been authorised to talk on behalf of the European Union at the Minsk summit which ended on Thursday, a statement published on the Ukrainian president’s website said.
Orban told Poroshenko he was aware of the importance of the ceasefire and the implementation of the Minsk agreements, the statement said.
Poroshenko and Orban discussed bilateral cooperation and energy security issues, including progress in diversifying gas transport to Ukraine.
They also talked about the situation of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine. Laszlo Brenzovics, the president of the Hungarian Cultural Federation of Transcarpathia (KMKSZ) and the only Hungarian member of the Ukrainian parliament, said at the meeting that Hungarians in Transcarpathia support Poroshenko’s efforts in creating peace and that the Hungarian minority did not feel it was being exposed to any ethnic discrimination in Ukraine, the statement said.
Orban said he appreciated that the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine were being observed. The two sides discussed further opportunities in improving the social and cultural development of the Hungarian community in Ukraine.
Poroshenko thanked Hungary for its support for Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as humanitarian aid, including the treatment in Hungary of Ukrainian soldiers injured in eastern Ukraine, the statement added.
Photo: MTI