HUNGARY WILL NOT RECOGNIZE SOUTH OSSETIA AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUDAPEST 000849 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV GG RU HU SUBJECT: HUNGARY WILL NOT RECOGNIZE SOUTH OSSETIA AND ABKHAZIA INDEPENDENCE REF: A. SECSTATE 91894 ¶B. BUDAPEST 0844 Classified By: DCM Jeffrey Levine, reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (C) In discussion of ref A with PolOff on August 27, MFA Russia and Balkans Deputy Department Head Istvan Ijgyarto called attention to Foreign Minister Goncz's comments today that Hungary will not recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He also provided the official MFA response (para 3) to the Russian President's announcement recognizing the independence of the two break-away regions. ¶2. (C) Earlier on August 27, MFA Senior State Secretry Marta Fekszi called the DCM to request assistance in arranging contact with the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi for a Hungarian team leaving August 28 to begin accelerated efforts to establish the Hungarian Embassy in the Georgian capital (ref B.) DCM passed U.S. Embassy Tbilisi contact information directly to MFA Security and Non-Proliferation Department Head Vilmos Hamikus who will lead the Hungarian delegation to Georgia. ¶3. (U) The following is the August 26 MFA statement in response to the Russian President's decree on South Ossetia and Abkhazia: Begin official MFA statement The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary learned with regret that the Russian President signed the decree recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the state Duma, in a call to the parliaments of the members of the United Nations and to the international parliamentary organizations initiated the "recognition of Abkhazia and South-Ossetia as sovereign and independent states". The foreign ministry's position is that these decisions do not serve the stability of the Caucasus region and do not advance negotiations over a settlement of the very conflict which has produced severe humanitarian and material consequences. The unilateral initiative of the Russian parliament - of a Russia which earlier defined itself as an independent external peacekeeper - cannot serve as a legal basis on which to settle the issue. Nor does its content or spirit accord with the extant agreement between the European Union President and the President of the Russian Federation, which has the widespread support of the international community. The Republic of Hungary, as a member of the European Union and NATO, firmly stands by the position that this conflict can and must be solved through dialogue and by peaceful means, respecting the territorial integrity of Georgia and its internationally recognized borders. End Statement Foley