As expected, Hungary’s new government, under the leadership of Péter Magyar, has indicated it is open to engaging with Ukraine on its bid to join the European Union. Brussels has not presented Magyar with the bill yet, so he and his government can keep up the illusion that Hungarians can have their cake and eat it too—that is, yield on migration and EU accession and retain national sovereignty.
The new Hungarian prime minister is trying to appease his right-leaning voters by acting tough on the Hungarian minority question in Transcarpathia while abiding by Brussels’ wishes behind the scenes.
At a meeting of EU ambassadors last week, the Hungarian ambassador reportedly said Budapest is now ready to engage with Kyiv in order to achieve tangible results. The ambassador reportedly stressed, however, that the EU’s merit-based methodology should be followed in Ukraine’s case, too, and that Hungary would continue paying special attention to the legal protections and rights of the Hungarian minority.
The comments come as Prime Minister Péter Magyar has launched ‘technical’ discussions with Ukraine over the longstanding dispute concerning the ethnic Hungarian community living in Ukraine’s western Transcarpathia region. The European Union has (in principle) also made minority protections a key prerequisite of Ukraine’s accession. The action plan demanded by Brussels concerns not only Hungarians but also the Romanian, Polish, and Bulgarian minorities living in Ukraine.
Under Orbán’s government, Hungary blocked the opening of the first cluster of Ukraine’s EU accession process as well as the 90 billion euro loan for Kyiv, citing concerns regarding the Hungarian minority’s rights, Ukrainian corruption, and, after the blocking of the Druzhba pipeline, the endangering of Hungary’s energy security.
With Orbán gone, Ukraine’s EU membership bid may be discussed at the next European Council meeting, where Magyar and Zelensky are also expected to meet on the sidelines. However, the office of Council President António Costa is reportedly only prepared to place the issue of Ukraine’s accession formally on the agenda if there is tangible progress on Hungary lifting its veto.
On Monday, Magyar revealed details of a phone conversation with Costa, saying Hungary had already initiated technical consultations with Kyiv regarding guarantees for the linguistic, educational, and cultural rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
“President António Costa informed me that he had made it clear to the Ukrainian president yesterday that any further steps must be preceded by respect for the rights of the Hungarian minority living in Ukraine,” Magyar said.
Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs, Anita Orbán, confirmed that “Hungarian-Ukrainian expert-level consultations aimed at resolving the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia will begin,” adding that representatives of the local Hungarian community would also be involved.
