On Tuesday, Volodymyr Lytvyn,
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, met Pál Schmitt, President of
the Republic of Hungary.
The meeting was held in the framework of the official visit of V. Lytvyn to Hungary.
In the beginning of the meeting, P. Schmitt highly appreciated the results of the visit of Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, to Ukraine two weeks ago. "I heard the good news from the Prime Minister about the successful visit", the President of the Republic of Hungary stated.
P. Schmitt expects positive results of his visit to Ukraine scheduled for December 2010. V. Lytvyn responded that Ukraine was looking forward to the visit of the Hungarian President.
The President of the Republic of Hungary emphasised that most issues discussed on the supreme level during the Ukrainian-Hungarian meetings concerned cooperation in the political, economic and energy sectors, and the partnership in the sphere of environmental protection. The issues of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine were no longer pressing.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine focused on the participation of the Hungarian community in the social and political life of Ukraine. Thus, in the result of the latest local elections, more than 400 Hungary-born Ukrainians were elected to the local self-government bodies.
V. Lytvyn and P. Schmitt deem necessary to support the cultural and social needs of the Ukrainian minority in the Republic of Hungary and the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. "We need to exert efforts to guarantee a comfortable life of our citizens", the Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated. He suggested that L.Kövér, Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary, visited Berehove and Mukachevo, two Ukrainian towns, and held a lesson at the Hungarian school.
Speaking on the bilateral Ukrainian-Hungarian relations, V. Lytvyn underscored their effectiveness. He expressed his gratitude to the President of Hungary for the support of the European integration intentions of Ukraine. The Head of the Ukrainian Parliament hopes that the presidency of Hungary in the European Union and the presidency of Ukraine in the Council of Europe will boost cooperation between Ukraine and the European institutions.
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Parties also discussed strengthening of cooperation of Ukraine with Visegrad
Group , the regional alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and
Slovakia. According to P. Schmitt, at its latest sitting, the Group concluded that Ukraine was an important partner for the Visegrad alliance.
P. Schmitt declared that Hungary upheld the Ukrainian intentions to liberalize the visa regime with EU states, "We are among the few European states bordering on Ukraine, thus we have a special responsibility."
"Ukraine is our strategic partner", the President of the Republic of Hungary stated.
The Parties also discussed implementation of the Law of the Republic of Hungary "On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Hungary 1993 LV. On Hungarian Citizenship", whereby the Hungary-born citizens permanently residing in the countries bordering on Hungary can acquire the citizenship of the Hungarian Republic according to the streamlined procedure (the Law comes into effect on 01.01.2011).
According to V. Lytvyn, it requires thorough analysis and consultations, as the domestic law and the Constitution of Ukraine do not envisage the double citizenship. One should renounce Ukrainian citizenship before acquiring another nationality. The Head of the Ukrainian Parliament emphasised that most citizens would like to acquire the second citizenship to have an opportunity to travel abroad. "If this problem is solved, there would be no need to acquire the second citizenship", he stated.
The Parties positively assessed the action plan on the visa free regime for Ukraine with the EU countries adopted at Ukraine-EU Summit on November 22.
As it was reported, on November 23-24, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stays with a working visit in the Republic of Hungary. V.M.Lytvyn will meet Semjen Zsolt, Deputy Prime-Minister of the Republic of Hungary, and representatives of the Ukrainian community of Hungary.