The other day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siyarto made a sharp statement that the new Ukrainian law "On Education" violates the principles of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Moreover, negative rhetoric towards Ukraine was voiced against the background of the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Kiev.
About why Hungary aggressively behaved towards Ukraine and how the meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and Turkey was held, the Ukrainian political scientist, head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Vladimir Fesenko, answered Eurasia Diary.
"Hungary has a very aggressive and inadequate pressure on Ukraine on this issue. This is the style of the government of the Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, which has already repeatedly led to conflicts in the relations between Hungary and Brussels (the European Commission). Hungary can not alone revise the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. This agreement has already been ratified and entered into force, and the European Commission will not go on a unilateral revision of this agreement, which would create a very dangerous precedent for other similar treaties, "the political scientist said.
According to him, as regards the question of Ukraine's accession to the EU, this is not a matter of today, but rather a far-reaching prospect (the issue of this can be considered really no earlier than 7-8 years, or even later). In addition, the problem here is not the position of Hungary, but the unwillingness of a number of Western European countries to extend the EU eastwards, especially to the post-Soviet space. The possibility of Ukraine's accession to the EU will depend not on Hungary, but on the success of reforms and economic development in Ukraine, as well as on ending the war in the Donbass. The current Ukrainian conflict because of the law on education will lose its relevance if not in six months, then a maximum of a year or two.
Concerning the visit of the Turkish President to Ukraine, Vladimir Femenko said that Erdogan's visit to Kiev is important primarily as a confirmation of the development of strategic partnership between the countries. Between the two presidents, besides, there are good personal relations. Mutual interest in communication and discussion of significant topics, in particular, is confirmed by the fact that the meeting of the two presidents' tet-a-tete instead of 45 minutes (as planned at the beginning) lasted more than three hours.
"What can be distinguished from the most important: another confirmation by Turkey of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the non-recognition by Turkey of the Russian annexation of the Crimea; increased attention to the topic of protecting the rights and interests of the Crimean Tatars; establishing a direct, secure telephone line between the two presidents (this is a sign of a special and meaningful relationship); plans for a significant increase in bilateral trade turnover (two, and preferably three times); signing of contracts between Ukrainian and Turkish companies in the defense sphere; joint interest in the development of cooperation in the space sphere; Turkey's support for the idea of a UN peacekeeping mission in the Donbas, "the expert concluded.
