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Hungary and Ukraine are close to ending a long-running dispute over the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine, potentially clearing a major obstacle in relations between Budapest and Kyiv.
Ties soured sharply under Viktor Orbán, whose government repeatedly clashed with Kyiv over Ukraine and blocked its progress towards EU membership. His successor, Péter Magyar, has sought to repair relations since taking office in May, but the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region remain a source of tension.
In June, the two countries agreed an 11-point plan to strengthen minority rights. Hungary responded by allowing two negotiating clusters to open in Ukraine’s EU accession talks.
But Budapest has blocked further progress, insisting that Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, first pass the legislation required under the deal. The laws are due to be adopted by the end of the year.
“Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vsevolod Chsentsov personally informed me that a bill on the educational rights of national minorities will be submitted to the Ukrainian parliament. We welcome this step,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said on social media.
“Hungary remains interested in the dialogue and in tangible results in the everyday life of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia,” she added.
Deal could ease tensions
The breakthrough follows another flare-up between the two governments just two weeks ago.
Magyar and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha clashed over Zelenskyy’s C8 regional development initiative, with Sybiha accusing the Hungarian leader of following in Orbán’s footsteps after Magyar said Hungary had been included against its will.
A bill covering language and cultural rights is due to go before the Rada later in October. Kyiv has not officially commented on the latest developments.
Ukrainian outlet LIGA.net reported that experts from both countries held intensive talks this week and agreed which parts of the 11-point plan Kyiv can deliver.
Dániel Hegedűs, deputy director of the Institut für Europäische Politik, told Euronews that the move could help reverse recent negative trends in bilateral relations, but that the legislation could still run into obstacles in the Rada.
“Given the absence of stable majorities in the Verkhovna Rada, passing the legislation in October is an ambitious goal and a real test of whether the Ukrainian administration can regain political control over issues of strategic importance to the country’s EU integration,” Hegedűs said.
Minority deal could unlock Ukraine’s EU talks
Magyar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously planned to meet, but the Hungarian leader made the talks conditional on progress over minority rights.
Hungarian public opinion also complicates the picture. After years of hostility towards Ukraine under Orbán, conservative voters remain wary of closer ties with Kyiv. But defending ethnic Hungarians abroad is also popular with conservatives, potentially giving Magyar room to strike a deal.
If Ukraine passes the minority package, Hungary could lift its veto on opening more chapters in Kyiv’s EU accession talks.
“It remains to be seen whether passage of the law will secure Hungary’s support for opening all negotiation clusters or only for some of them,” Hegedűs said.
“In the most positive scenario, passage of the minority law and Hungarian support for opening all negotiation clusters could mark a new era in relations between the two countries.”
He added that approval of the minority package in Ukraine “would make Budapest’s continuation of its blockade harder to sustain and significantly more costly politically at the European level.”