NATO to hold Ukraine meeting despite Hungary’s objections

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he will call a high-level meeting of the military 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. Hungary has blocked the gatherings over a language law in Ukraine that it says stops an ethnic minority from studying Hungarian. But Stoltenberg said Tuesday that “I have the mandate to convene it.” He did not say why he was going over Hungary’s head but Budapest has been holding up a vote on Finland and Sweden joining NATO.  Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says Stoltenberg’s decision “in our opinion, hurts the cherished unity of NATO.”