Hungary is actively involved in the reconstruction efforts in Ukraine, and the close cooperation between Ukraine and Hungary is demonstrated by actions such as the completion of the Hungarian government-funded construction of a kindergarten near Kyiv, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar said on Monday.
In the afternoon, Levente Magyar and a delegation from the Hungarian Interchurch Aid visited the city of Bucha, near Kyiv, which suffered massive war damage. A multifunctional municipal service centre with a budget of approximately 10 million euros is expected to be completed here by autumn. In addition to the municipal office, there will be a surgery, a registrar’s office, a post office, and an event hall. This investment is currently the most important one in Ukraine of those carried out with Hungarian government support and coordinated by the Interchurch Aid, a charity organisation under the auspices of the Hungarian Lutheran Church.
After the inauguration of the Zahaltsi (Zahalca) kindergarten in the morning, Levente Magyar said: ‘This is a serious sign and indicator of how significantly Hungary is present in the reconstruction of Ukraine.’
Regarding his meetings, the parliamentary state secretary emphasised that one of the important topics discussed was the coordination of reconstruction efforts, as well as Hungary’s humanitarian support within Ukraine and of the Ukrainians who has sought refuge in Hungary. He noted that ‘only the most positive tone and adjectives can be used to talk about this, as there are already beautiful results behind us,’ and that assistance will continue.
The topic of the Ukrainian regulation of language use and education affecting the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia was also on the agenda of the meetings. Magyar reminded that after the 2014 revolution, ‘a Ukrainian legislative process was launched that resulted in a situation that was detrimental for the Transcarpathian Hungarians in many ways.’ The war has ‘rewritten the priorities’ of the Hungarian government, however, and offering humanitarian aid has become priority.
At the same time, now there is an opportunity to work out a solution that is ‘acceptable to the Transcarpathian Hungarian community, to Kyiv, and to Budapest.’ The State Secretary added that ‘the position of the latter is roughly in line with the opinion of the Transcarpathian Hungarians.’ Levente Magyar stated that there is ‘maximum openness in both the [Ukrainian] presidential office and the ministries, perhaps unprecedented openness,’ so it may finally become possible to satisfactorily resolve the issues that have burdened Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.
