Hungarian Foreign Minister: Ukraine must not be destabilised

Budapest, January 28 (MTI) – The most important goal amid the current situation in Ukraine is avoiding destabilising the country, and the sides must handle carefully the political tension, Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

Speaking to commercial broadcaster Gazdasagi Radio, Martonyi said “the developments over the past few days were very worrying”. It is in everyone’s interest, Europe and Russia alike, not to destabilise the country.

The Ukrainian government has resigned but it cannot be known what is in store in the next few hours or days, he said, adding that the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four countries were meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

He said it had been a “very grave mistake” by the Ukrainian leadership to stop negotiating over the EU association agreement at the last minute and after many years of talks, and when Ukraine’s parliament had approved it. At the same time, Russian diplomacy “committed a rather serious error and misjudged the situation, and they, too, probably now see that.”

As far as Russia is concerned, free trade between the EU and Ukraine would be unacceptable for the Russian economy, he said, adding that this fear was overblown and a solution could be found.

Martonyi said it was in Hungary’s interest for Ukraine to get closer to the EU. The ongoing demonstrations in Ukraine are also a recognition of the advantage of closer ties with the bloc, and this does not just apply to the western part of the country, he said, adding that this should be taken seriously.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://hungarymatters.hu/