Closing Remarks by Minister of State Zsolt Németh at the VI Europe–Ukraine Forum (Budapest, 14 May 2013)
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If the Persian had won the Greco-Persian wars, then only God knows what would have happened to the cradle of Europe. According to Herodotus, the Greek historian the outcome of the Greco-Persian wars was that “Europe has steadied her boundaries”.
Roughly 2500 years later, we are witnessing a Ukraine which has found itself in a pivotal role in defining Europe’s borders yet again, a role that a three-day Forum organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polish Institute for Eastern Studies has explored in depth in the past three days. I am particularly delighted that the Forum, rather than being just a string of long monologues, brought frank discussions and lively debates about delicate topics – from Ukraine’s geostrategic position in Europe’s energy supply to the country’s chances in signing an Association Agreement with the European Union this autumn.
I will probably not surprise you with our strong conviction that we need a Ukraine which is attached to the EU and interiorized the European set of values and norms. The tight cooperation of Ukraine with the EU, the Ukrainian development, prosperity and ultimate independence is not only a Ukrainian interest a Hungarian, Ukrainian and European interest at the same time. Beyond all these, Hungary has a special interest in Ukraine. That is a 150.000-strong Hungarian minority community in the country. No wonder that we are dedicating attention and effort to Ukraine’s internal and progress, to contributing to a developing a positive economic, political, cultural and international security environment affecting the everyday life of average Ukrainian citizens. 
These all determine our strong interest in the success of the Eastern Partnership Programme. Hungary and Poland organized the last Eastern Partnership Summit shoulder-to-shoulder two years ago. It is well-known that preparations for the next summit of the Eastern Partnership, taking place in Vilnius in November, are under way. It is a common interest for all of us to make the Eastern Partnership Programme a success for the partner countries and for the EU as well. It is a common interest to have the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement signed at the Summit, representing a genuine milestone in the history of the country and in defining Europe’s borders. Hungary takes on the Visegrád 4 presidency in July 2013 with a priority to contribute to help bring about such a success in Vilnius in November and we give full support to the Lithuanian EU presidency in this regard.
The conference ending today hopefully served this aim and gave ammunition to keep the EU and Ukraine busy and fruitful until the summit. Concluding the forum, I wish all participants that you could make good use of the time we have spent together. We have been delighted to be your host at this event of paramount importance, the first time this Forum took place outside Ukraine or Poland. In this regard of course I owe thanks to the Polish Institute of Eastern Studies for the common effort, as well as all participants for their active contribution.
Zbigniew Brzeziński listed the reborn of Ukraine among the three most important geopolitical events of the 20th century. Somewhere he is quite concrete about Ukraine when stating that the future of Ukraine is important for the future of Europe. Ukraine must become a part of Europe, he says, and it is time for Ukraine to make that decision.
I can assure you that it will not depend on us: Ukraine can count on our help. And we are also counting on Ukraine walking that extra mile.
Thank you for your attention!
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
