Crossing the Hungarian-Ukrainian border to become easier after Foreign Ministers' meeting

At a press conference following the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, the Foreign Minister said that the joint working group on education set up by the Hungarian and Ukrainian governments met again yesterday, but there was still no significant convergence of positions, and Hungary continues to insist on the full restoration of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

Szijjártó also pointed out that due to farmers' demonstrations and road blockades, in many cases trade on the more than 500-kilometre-long Ukrainian-Polish border has become practically impossible, putting more pressure than ever on the 136-kilometre-long Hungarian-Ukrainian border.

"This also creates an untenable situation, as trucks leaving Ukraine often have to wait for 14-16 days, which is a serious challenge and difficulty for the Hungarian economy, as many Hungarian companies and industries have a significant Ukrainian-Hungarian trade exposure," he pointed out. He underlined that

it is therefore an important interest to reduce the inhumane waiting times.

"I would like to make it very clear that we are not talking about the transport of agricultural products, because Hungary will continue to maintain the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, and we will continue to do so, because protecting the interests of Hungarian farmers is a very important priority for us," he said.

The minister announced that on Monday the Hungarian ambassador in Kyiv will sign an agreement to open a new border crossing point between Nagyhódos and Nagypalád, as the Hungarians of Transcarpathia have been asking for a long time.

He also announced that they

will allow empty trucks to cross the border at the Beregsurány crossing point, which will significantly reduce the congestion at the Záhony crossing point and reduce the problems for Hungarian companies that also rely on supplies from Ukraine.

The minister also informed that the traffic at the transhipment station in Fényeslitke, which was previously improved at a cost of €120 million, is also increasing. It can handle the equivalent of one million containers a year and is the largest transhipment point on Ukraine's western border.

Cover photo source: Péter Szijjártó's Facebook page on the meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels yesterday