Ukraine and Hungary stepping up cooperation
President Viktor Yushchenko’s fruitful two-day visit to Hungary had a cultural accent. On the first day of his visit the Ukrainian and Hungarian leaders mostly discussed cooperation in the field of energy supplies. On the second day cultural issues were on the agenda.
During the talks with Prime Minister Ferenz Gyrcsany of Hungary President Yushchenko suggested that Hungary lease some of Ukraine’s gas storage facilities. There are several underground facilities in the vicinity of the Ukrainian-Hungarian border that Ukraine can lease to Hungary. The western Ukrainian facilities can store up to 30 billion m?. “We’re negotiating the use of these storage facilities with Hungary and other European countries, which can use them to add a new page to the history of energy security,” Ukraine’s head of state declared. The Hungarian prime minister stressed that his country is interested in building gas storage facilities in Ukraine with more than one billion cubic meters’ capacity to meet the republic’s needs.
President Yushchenko said that Ukraine does not intend to increase the price of electricity to Hungary. On Oct. 26, 2006, Ukraine’s Ukrintenerho made a deal with Hungary’s Emfesz Kft to export about 1.5 billion kWh of electricity to Hungary in 2007. Yushchenko explained that Ukraine cannot increase its electricity exports because of an obsolete infrastructure, but noted that the Burshtyn energy island needs thorough modernization because Ukraine’s electricity is being exported to Hungary there. The Ukrainian and Hungarian sides are negotiating the employment of workers from both countries to develop the island, the president added.
The Hungarian prime minister said that his country is interested in the construction of a hydrocascade in the upper reaches of the Tisza River (Ukrainian: Tysa), and that Hungary is interested in increasing its electricity imports: “We discussed the possibility of increasing power supplies to Hungary; our countries are interested in providing electricity supplies to Hungary.”
President Yushchenko addressed a meeting of Hungarian businesspeople and politicians, during which he outlined priorities for cooperation, naming the sphere of energy supplies, transportation routes, and border cooperation as top priorities. In regard to regional cooperation, the president initiated the idea of holding inter-ministerial and agency meetings to discuss matters relating to forestry, water management, and the environment. The first such meeting is scheduled for September in Uzhhorod, the president announced.
In regard to cooperation in the energy sphere, President Yushchenko said that the Adria-Druzhba oil pipeline remains the leading economic project in the sphere of oil transportation. The Ukrainian side believes that this project is of great economic value and has excellent prospects. Ukraine’s head of state is pleased by the manner in which the project is being implemented, and he is convinced that the stable dynamics of Ukraine’s economic growth and microeconomic climate are a “good field in which to conduct a business dialogue between Ukraine and Hungary.” After the meetings President Yushchenko was awarded the Istvan Szechenyi Society’s Gold Medal, and Mayor Gabor Demszky of Budapest presented him with the symbolic keys to the Hungarian capital.
The previous day the Ukrainian president appeared to be more concerned about the problems of Hungary’s Ukrainian minority. During his meeting with the leaders of the state self-governing administration of Ukrainians in Hungary and the members of the presidium of the European Congress, Yushchenko stressed that the question of assisting and ensuring the full-fledged life of Ukrainians abroad remains a priority issue for Ukraine. The issue of national minorities and the protection of their rights were discussed during the Ukrainian leader’s meetings with Hungarian officials on Tuesday.
Viktor and Kateryna Yushchenko met with Hungary’s President Laszlo Solyom and his wife, and took part in the ceremony to unveil a monument to the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in Budapest. In his opening address, President Yushchenko emphasized the singular role that Shevchenko played in the history of the Ukrainian nation and the formation of the Ukrainian language: “For our nation Shevchenko has been calling for freedom and liberty, and teaching love for one’s people, for the past two centuries,” Yushchenko declared, adding that it is extremely important to instill respect for the Great Kobzar in the younger generation of Ukrainians: “I am convinced that this monument will serve this mission.” He added that honoring Shevchenko’s memory is the highest compliment that any country can pay to the Ukrainian nation.
Yushchenko thanked the Hungarian government and the mayor of Budapest for their assistance in erecting the monument, as well as the Ukrainian community and artists in Hungary for their participation in this project. “This is a manifestation of our friendship, of neighborly relations, of love between Ukraine and Hungary,” stressed the Ukrainian president. Hungary’s President Solyom praised the national self-awareness of the Ukrainian diaspora in his country: “This monument must be a hallmark of Ukrainian- Hungarian friendship.” The monument was consecrated during the unveiling ceremony, which ended with the song “Dumy, moi” (Oh, Thoughts of Mine), based on Shevchenko’s lyrics.
COMMENTARY
How was Ukraine’s gas storage proposal received in Hungary?
Laszlo POTI, senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies in Budapest:
I believe that the Ukrainian president’s visit to Hungary means that our bilateral relations have begun evolving on a stable basis after a long interval. Above all, I see this in the fact that there is a normal high-level dialogue between our countries. I know that this visit was planned several yeas ago. I consider the Ukrainian president’s proposals in several aspects. In the first place, they are a sign that our bilateral relations are deepening. Now we have business proposals rather then political issues on the agenda.
In addition, Ukraine’s gas proposals may be regarded as an attempt on the Ukrainian side to share the experience acquired from the gas crisis two years ago, when Ukraine’s conflict with Russia made her an unreliable transit partner in the eyes of the European Union. As for the gas storage facilities, I know for sure that Hungary needs one. Budapest is negotiating with Russia over the same question, trying to resolve the issue. I understand that the Ukrainian side is proposing such storage facilities to Hungary and other EU countries. I believe that Hungary needs a modest part of the facilities being proposed by the Ukrainian side.
The processes that have begun in the business relations between our countries and the fact that Ukrainian capital is creating business in Hungary benefit our bilateral relations. I don’t think that Ukraine will be a priority in Hungary’s policies. Hungary is experiencing a process of renewing its foreign policy; it is working out a new foreign political strategy. Let’s see what place Ukraine will occupy there. Personally, I believe that progress has been achieved since Hungary practically ignored Ukraine after 2004. It would perhaps be better to say that Hungary did not treat Ukraine the right way, considering its importance in Hungary’s foreign policy. Corrections have been made to this policy over the last two and a half years.
This progress can be measured as follows: if high-level political contacts and those on the level of various special spheres show headway and evolve on a steady basis, this will signify considerable progress compared to what was happening earlier. There should be normal and repeated contacts, normal neighborly relations with all their positive consequences. It is hard to single out a particular sphere. I don’t think that Hungary would be able to replace Poland as Ukraine’s advocate in the European Union and NATO, but I think that Hungary will no longer be able to ignore Ukraine. Therefore, it is possible to assume that Hungary is positioned between two extremes, and that it is taking a normal stand in regard to Ukraine and developing normal relations with this country.
I am not ruling out the possibility that Hungary will support Ukraine’s membership in a new extended EU-Ukraine agreement. This is possible in the event that such a formulation does not entail concrete promises, but will simply be an assertion that such a possibility exists.
