Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg pronounced on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 that he would call a high-level meeting of the organization’s main forum for cooperation with Ukraine next month, despite objections from Hungary.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission has not met at ministerial level for several years. The last meeting was held at a lower level in 2019 in Kyiv, with NATO Ambassadors joining Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some of his Cabinet ministers, about three years before Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Hungary and Ukraine are at loggerheads over a language law adopted in Ukraine in 2017 which the nationalist government in Budapest insists that it stops members of the Transcarpathian ethnic minority from studying in Hungarian. Hungary has routinely blocked NATO-Ukraine Commission meetings since.
Stoltenberg, who chairs NATO’s meetings, declared, “This is an established framework. I have the mandate to convene it.”
“In respect for the issues that Hungary has raised, that I have not convened for some time, but now I will continue to convene the meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.”
Jens Stoltenberg
Stoltenberg disclosed that the meeting will be held on the sidelines of a gathering of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels on April 4, 2023 to April 5, 2023. Additionally, he said, “I’ve not planned more meetings but of course this will not be a one-off event.” He noted that Zelenskyy has been invited to attend NATO’s summit in Lithuania in July.
Stoltenberg also said that Hungary’s minority concerns would be discussed at next month’s meeting. NATO makes its decisions by consensus, and Stoltenberg declined to say why he was insisting on calling the meeting over Hungary’s head.
Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó also declined to say what the problem was, telling reporters that the NATO-Ukraine Commission is being convened “for reasons that are not my duty to disclose.” He said though that Stoltenberg’s decision “in our opinion, hurts the cherished unity of NATO.”
Hungary has continually pushed back a date to vote on the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, delaying their entry with little explanation.
Stoltenberg stated that Szijjártó, in a meeting earlier on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, had confirmed to him that the parliament in Budapest would vote on Finland’s membership on March 27, but it is unclear when or if it will vote on Sweden’s entry.
Hungary has been widely criticized over its human rights record, including a law adopted two years ago that rights groups consider to be homophobic and transphobic. The European Court of Human Rights has also condemned Budapest’s handling of asylum-seekers
Stoltenberg Warns China Not To Supply Russia With Lethal Weapons
In other developments, the NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg has warned that “China should not provide lethal aid to Russia.” He issued this caution as Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were engaged in official talks at the Kremlin.
Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that “we haven’t seen any proof” of China delivering lethal weapons but there are some signs of it being “a request from Russia”. He added that if China did so, it would be supporting “an illegal war.”
Also, Stoltenberg said that he expects Finland to become a member of the alliance before the Turkish parliamentary elections on May 14, 2023.
He disclosed that he has received “assurances” that the Hungarian parliament will ratify the Finnish accession protocol in the near future, and that the Turkish parliament will do the same before the May elections.
As for Sweden’s accession, Stoltenberg said that he could not give a specific date but that it was a “priority”.
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