H.E. Mr. Gergely Bánhegyi:

Yes, it was a broad range of comments and questions. I thank the Deputy very much. Let us start with the order the Deputy asked them in and with the meeting between Prime Minister Orbán and President Zelenskyy yesterday. As the Prime Minister restated yesterday, his intention in paying his first visit to Kyiv as the Prime Minister of the country holding the Presidency was to try to find long-term solutions for ending the war and to make progress on bilateral relations. At the press conference after the meeting, President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Orbán expressed their hopes and views. They had an extremely constructive discussion on bilateral issues. Both reiterated that they are trying to put the debates of the past behind them and to focus on the future.

The Deputy may have heard that the biggest concern of our Government regarding Ukraine is the deprivation of the minority rights of the Hungarian minorities, which started more or less about seven years ago. As Prime Minister Orbán said, however, he and President Zelenskyy would like to put the past behind them and focus on the future. The Prime Minister also mentioned that Hungary is keen to participate as much as it can in the modernisation of the Ukrainian economy.

We also hope that based on these discussions the rights of the Hungarian minorities can be improved. We are also very much committed to supporting the Ukrainian refugees coming to Hungary and those who decide to stay in the country and not move on to other European countries, like Ireland, for example. As a tool in this regard, Prime Minister Orbán announced that we are going to open a Ukrainian school in Budapest very soon. Hungary has been hosting and caring for refugees from Ukraine since the very first day. According to our statistics, altogether about 1.3 million Ukrainians have arrived in Hungary. Many of those just moved further on then. We have been constantly supporting Ukraine too with medical care for wounded soldiers and with the reconstruction of schools and health facilities.

Of course, Prime Minister Orbán arrived in Kyiv as the Prime Minister of Hungary when the country has the Presidency of the Council. He expressed the view that "peace is important not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe". We all understand that Ukraine is suffering the most in this war, but it is also very much affecting European security and the European economy. Prime Minister Orbán and President Zelenskyy agreed they are going to work together on these issues.

Turning to the issue of migration, if I may respond a little, Hungary started tackling the issues of illegal migration already in 2015 with the first big wave of illegal migrants.

Hungary committed at that time to protect the external border of the European Union. The main goal of the government as a member state on the external border was to protect the external border and to try to stop illegal migration at the border. Hungary sees that the newly adopted migration pact may be seen by some potential migrants as an invitation and it is not a viable solution. That is why I mentioned that we would like to find innovative solutions in co-operation with the newly established institutions of the member states.

The Deputy mentioned Hungary's stance towards Russia and Putin, and also towards Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu. We believe that diplomacy has the most important, crucial role and must stay open for all parties because solutions can be achieved only by discussions. Diplomats and diplomacy are the only way. Even though parties do not agree with each other, they are in constant communication. I am pretty sure that Hungary is not the only European member state which keeps different levels of communication channels open to both Israel and Russia. I am optimistic and as a diplomat I believe that constant communication can help to achieve peace and solutions to this crisis.