The Hungarian ultra-right party "Our Homeland" will claim the right to the western part of Ukraine, where about 150.000 ethnic Hungarians live, if Ukraine loses its statehood due to the invasion of Russia, said the leader of that party, Laszlo Torockaj.
Torockaj said this at a conference where the party, which has six members in Hungary's 199-seat parliament, hosted far-right leaders from Germany's AfD and the Netherlands' Forum for Democracy, among others.
"Regarding the war in Ukraine, our message is very simple: an immediate ceasefire, peace and a negotiated solution," Torockaj said in a video posted on his party's website, calling for autonomy for ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine.
The party leader said, however, that if Kiev loses, he will demand autonomy for the western part of the country, where ethnic Hungarians live, Reuters reported.
"If this war ends with Ukraine losing its statehood, because that is also on the table, then as the only Hungarian side occupying this position, allow me to signal that we lay claim to that Transcarpathia," Torockaj told the assembled greeted with applause.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity in December.
Budapest is at loggerheads with Kiev over the right of roughly 150.000 ethnic Hungarians to use their native language.
Ukraine and Hungary are interested in holding a meeting of their leaders as soon as possible, said today the advisor to the President of Ukraine Andrey Yermak after a conversation with his Hungarian colleague Peter Sijart.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who also attended the talks, said that the two countries agreed to establish a commission that will prepare proposals for the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority living in Ukraine.
Last month, all member states of the European Union, except Hungary, agreed to start accession negotiations with Ukraine. The bloc's leaders sidestepped Orban's opposition by suggesting he leave the room to adopt a resolution on Ukraine.
EU leaders, however, failed to overcome his resistance to a 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine and are expected to revisit the issue at a summit on Thursday.
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