FM: Hungary not demanding territorial integrity for minority

FM: Hungary not demanding territorial integrity for minority

BRATISLAVA -- Hungary is not demanding territorial autonomy for the Hungarian minority in the west of Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi has said.

His statement came two days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that his country "will stand up for its rights within the European Union and seek autonomy for ethnic Hungarians living outside the borders of Hungary in Central Europe, including Ukraine," reported Reuters.

Kiev reacted to this by summoning the Hungarian ambassador to Ukraine for consultations meant to provide them with an explanation.

Martonyi spoke to reporters in Bratislava on Wednesday where he is taking part in the GLOBSEC conference, to say that Orban used the term "self-administration" rather than "territorial autonomy."

"Autonomy can be different, as we have already said, personal, cultural, territorial... The word 'territorial' was not used in (Orban's) speech," said Martonyi.

He added that relations between the Hungarian minority in Ukraine and the pro-European government in Kiev were "excellent".