Hungary blocked the NATO-Ukraine Defense Commission
Despite the requests of Ukraine and the consent of the most influential members of the North Atlantic alliance, Brussels did not confirm the date of the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting with participation of the ministers of defense, reports the newspaper Evropeyska Pravda with reference to diplomatic sources. The information was later confirmed by the NATO representatives.
The Ministerial meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission was to be held on February 14 or 15 during the joint meeting of defense ministers of the member countries of the Alliance. This is one of the few opportunities during the year when the head of the Ukrainian military department can present his views to the ministers of all key partner countries. However, Hungary used its veto right and blocked the meeting.
"At the moment, there are no scheduled meetings of NATO-Ukraine Commission," Brussels said in response to the request of the newspaper. The Alliance official reiterated that in December, the Commission held a meeting where "security in Ukraine and the course of reforms were discussed." Hungary did not block this meeting, probably because of the low representation level. The meeting was attended by the ambassadors of the NATO member countries.
In October last year, Hungary vetoed the convocation of the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, scheduled for December 6. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary intends to block any European integration initiatives of Ukraine because of the language regulations of the new Ukrainian bill ‘On Education’. In December, the Venice Commission examined the language article of the bill "On Education" and did not support Hungary’s claims.