The most important goal amid the current situation in Ukraine is to avoid the destabilisation the country, and both sides must handle the political tension with great care, Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi said in a radio interview on 28 January 2014.

Speaking to commercial broadcaster Gazdasági Rádió, Minister Martonyi said “the developments over the past few days were very worrying”. It is in everyone’s interests, Europe and Russia alike, that the country should not become destabilised.

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 Visegrád Four countries would meet on 29 January to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

He said it had been a “very grave mistake” by the Ukrainian leadership to stop negotiations on a possible EU association agreement at the last minute, following many years of talks and after Ukraine's parliament had approved it. At the same time, Russian diplomacy “also committed a rather serious error and misjudged the situation, as they too have probably realised by now.”

Russia's standpoint is that free trade between the EU and Ukraine would be unacceptable for the Russian economy, he said, adding that this argument was overstated and a solution could be found to these concerns.

Minister Martonyi said it was in Hungary’s interests for Ukraine to develop closer links with the European Union. The ongoing demonstrations in Ukraine are also recognition of the advantages of closer ties with the bloc, and this does not just apply to the western part of the country, he said, adding that Ukraine's eagerness to be part of Europe should be taken seriously.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)