In a Facebook post on Sunday, state secretary Levente Magyar recalled that on April 29 he met in Budapest with Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, to inject new momentum into the bilateral talks—stalled in recent months—aimed at resolving issues surrounding the Hungarian minority’s right to use their mother tongue in Transcarpathia. According to Mr. Magyar, during the meeting, which was conducted in a constructive tone, both sides agreed to resume talks at the expert level on May 12.
He added that Monday's meeting was canceled on Saturday evening, as he judged that recent developments in Hungary-Ukraine relations made good-faith, constructive negotiations on such a sensitive issue as minority rights impossible.
The fact that on Friday, based on espionage charges, a ‘counterintelligence operation’ was carried out in Transcarpathia and was immediately made public by the Ukrainian side—just three days before a meeting of pivotal importance—casts doubt on the sincerity of their intent to resolve outstanding issues,
– the state secretary wrote.
Let’s see what happens in the coming days. As far as we’re concerned, we remain open to dialogue,
– Mr. Magyar wrote, in conclusion of his post
