On October 22, Accompanied by Deputy Secretariat Chief of Staff Oleksandr Chalyi, Victor Yushchenko and his wife visited Hungary to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian revolution, the president press office reported.
In an interview for Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian Nation), Hungary’s major newspaper, Victor Yushchenko has spoken about economic cooperation between Ukraine and Hungary, especially in the area of investment. He also said the two countries should start and jointly implement energy projects.
Victor Yushchenko and his wife have met with representatives of Hungary’s Ukrainian community.
In his speech, the President revealed his vision of the current situation in Ukraine, reiterating that the country’s political forces must unite to fulfill the nation’s key priorities. He said the National Unity Pact “was designed to unite political forces irrespective of geography.”
Victor Yushchenko outlined Ukraine’s recent economic and social achievements. He particularly said the Ukrainian economy had stabilized in the past several months, with the GDP rate being 6%.
“This is one of the best results in Europe,” he said, adding that the direct foreign investment rate had doubled in the past year.
Speaking about Ukrainians living abroad, the Head of State said the Ukrainian government was now formulating a project called “The Ukrainian parlor” and aimed at creating Ukrainian information and culture centers in European capitals and other cities of the world with numerous Ukrainian communities. He believes it will enable Ukrainians abroad to sense “the channel of communication with Ukraine.”
“We know what worries the Diaspora in Hungary,” he said, promising to discuss their most pressing problems with his Hungarian colleague, Laszlo Solyom, tomorrow.
Yaroslava Khortyani, Head of the Ukrainian Culture Association in Hungary, thanked the Ukrainian government for supporting and promoting their activities.
The President and the First Lady inspected the Markiyan Shashkevych library and viewed exhibitions featuring Ukrainian artists and craftsmen. They gave the Ukrainian community a collection of books by Ukrainian classics, videotapes, CDs and musical instruments.
Victor Yushchenko has told representatives of Budapest’s Ukrainian community he will soon press parliamentarians to pass a bill recognizing the Holodomor as genocide.
“On November 25, we will be commemorating the anniversary of this terrible event, and a bill to recognize the Holodomor as genocide will have been proposed by the President by that date,” he said
Victor and Kateryna Yushchenko have attended a concert to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian revolution.
The event took place in Budapest’s opera house.
On October 23, President Yushchenko is also to meet his Hungarian colleague, Laszlo Solyom, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva.
The President will hold a meeting with Hungarian business.
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