Ukraine and Hungary agree on minority rights, paving way for EU accession talks
The long-running dispute had strained ties between Budapest and Kyiv and complicated Hungary’s support for Ukraine’s EU ambitions
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Wednesday that Hungary and Ukraine reached an agreement on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, which could allow approval of the first cluster, or a group of negotiating chapters, in Ukraine’s EU accession talks.
The agreement marks a potential breakthrough in a long-running dispute over minority rights that had strained ties between Budapest and Kyiv and complicated Hungary’s support for Ukraine’s EU ambitions.
Every step of the accession process, which is divided into chapters and clusters of policy issues, requires approval from all EU members.
“We have achieved a breakthrough in our talks with Ukraine about the language, cultural and educational rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority,” Magyar said in a social media post during an official trip to Paris.
Magyar, who ousted Moscow-friendly predecessor Viktor Orban in an April election, said on Tuesday that he was ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week to open a new chapter in relations if a deal was reached on minority rights.
Warmer relations between Hungary and Ukraine are pivotal for the European Union’s backing for Kyiv in Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Orban having opposed the flow of billions of euros in aid to Ukraine and its EU membership.