Viktor Orbán remains lukewarm about improved legal protections for Hungarians in Ukraine, and is still citing the issue as a pretext for holding up military aid.
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00:00 Around 75,000 ethnic Hungarians reside in the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia.
00:06 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long alleged that Ukraine's government is
00:10 infringing upon their rights.
00:12 In December, Kiev amended its education and language laws to comply with the EU's membership
00:18 requirements, restoring many of the minority rights demanded by Budapest, much to the relief
00:23 of the region's Hungarian community.
00:25 "European integration was the catalyst that helped to revive the whole process.
00:33 It is possible that the summit in the EU on 8 December was the point that moved the question
00:40 of the Ukrainian-Hungarian relations."
00:44 But Hungary is not fully satisfied with the reforms, a potential sticking point as EU
00:48 leaders meet on Thursday to try to convince Orbán to lift his veto on a 50 billion euro
00:54 aid package for Ukraine.
00:55 "We have just said what points we see the guarantee of getting back to 2015 conditions.
01:03 We hope that the work of the intergovernmental committee will be successful."
01:11 Hungary has made 11 specific requests to Ukraine.
01:15 They include restoring the status of the national school, allowing a high school diploma to
01:20 be taken in Hungarian and enabling the use of the Hungarian language in public life.
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