Hungary supports the European integration aspirations of Ukraine at all levels, and plans to continue the cooperation that began with the Transcarpathian region under the auspices of the Eastern Partnership programme; Hungary also wants to increase the number of border crossings between the two countries – said Zsolt Németh, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ungvár (Uzhgorod) on February 15, where he arrived for a two-day official visit to the Transcarpathian region.

Zsolt Németh held talks with Oleksandr Ledida, the Governor of Transcarpathia County and with Ivan Baloga, the Chairman of the County Assembly.

During the talks, the Hungarian State Secretary called the cooperation of Hungary and the Transcarpathian region excellent. As he pointed out, the parties have a very successful year behind them, after the signing of the cooperation agreement one year ago by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Transcarpathia County Assembly, which on the Hungarian side set out one million US dollars for renewing education, health and cultural institutions in Transcarpathia, which Ukraine complemented with the same amount. Németh highlighted that about two-thirds of the defined objectives had already been met.

The Hungarian politician also said that Hungary was looking forward with great expectations to the upcoming visit of Ukrainian Premier Mikola Azarov to Hungary, which he thought was going to have a beneficial effect not only on relations between the two states but also on cooperation between Hungary and the Transcarpathian region. He explained to his partners that the relations between Hungary and independent Ukraine now look back on a 22-year history and even if there are some issues, Hungary supports the strengthening of the sovereignty of Ukraine and the country's European integration efforts both bilaterally and on the international level.

Zsolt Németh also mentioned that the Ukraine was most probably going to import gas from Hungary and this is going to be of great significance in terms of securing the energy independence of the country. In this respect, he highlighted that Budapest will raise the issue of renewing the Ukrainian energy system and possible assistance for this in the EU.

With respect to bolstering Hungarian-Ukrainian relations, the Hungarian State Secretary considers it very important to develop border crossing infrastructure. He called on his hosts in Transcarpathia to intervene in Kiev with a view to increasing traffic and the number of border crossings between the two countries.

Zsolt Németh explained that Hungary was going to assume the office of the Presidency of the Central European Initiative and of the Visegrad Group, and that Budapest wished to use this opportunity to reinforce relations between Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic structures. He also mentioned that the Eastern Partnership Summit will be held in Vilnius in autumn, at which one of the most important issues on the agenda will be the signing of the Free Trade and Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, which Hungary supports together with Poland.

From the Ukrainian side Oleksandr Ledida, the Governor of Transcarpathia County thanked Hungary for the support provided within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and for cooperation in general. As he emphasized, a lot of things have been made possible during the last year with the assistance of Hungary.

The Governor of the Ukrainian county briefed his Hungarian partner on the implementation of the river management and flood protection program in the region as well as on the relocation of the population – some Hungarians included – affected by the mine collapse at Aknaszlatina (Solotvyno).

During the early hours of the evening, Zsolt Németh will visit the Hungarian College in Beregszász (Beregovo) and will inaugurate a village museum built in Nagybereg (Veliki Berehi) with assistance from Hungary.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)