Hungary is and will continue to be intensively involved in the reconstruction of Ukraine, as greater cooperation between the two nations must be the common path, Levente Magyar, a senior government official, said while briefing media on the latest developments in Kyiv on Monday.
The Hungarian parliamentary state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, visited the war-torn town of Bucha, near Kyiv, on Monday afternoon with a delegation of the Hungarian Ecumenical Relief Organization.
He discussed plans for a multi-functional municipal service center in Synyak, near Bucha, which is expected to be completed by the autumn with a budget of around €10 million.
In addition to the municipal office, the center will house a surgical clinic, a post office, and an event hall. This is the most important project currently underway in Ukraine with the support of the Hungarian government and the coordination of the Ecumenical Relief Organization.
Levente Magyar said that after the opening of a kindergarten in Zahalc on Monday, “this is a more serious sign, a yardstick of Hungary’s intensive involvement in the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Magyar said that one of the important topics of his working meetings was the coordination of reconstruction efforts and Hungary’s humanitarian support to Ukraine, both internally and in relation to the Ukrainian community that has fled to Hungary.
He noted that “one can only speak about this in the most positive terms (…), as we have already achieved good results” and have vowed that assistance will continue.
The regulation of language and education issues affecting the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia was also discussed. Magyar recalled that already after the 2014 revolution, “a kind of Ukrainian legislative process was started, which resulted in a situation that has been detrimental to the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia in many respects.”
The war “redefined priorities,” and humanitarian aid came to the fore, he added.
Now, we have the opportunity to work out a solution that is “acceptable to the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, to Kyiv and to Budapest,” the state secretary said, adding that Budapest “is broadly in line with the opinion in Transcarpathia.”
Magyar said that both in the president’s office and within the relevant ministries “there is maximum openness, perhaps an openness never seen before,” so finally, the issue of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations can be settled properly.
“Close cooperation is the common path for Ukraine and Hungary,” Magyar concluded.
