Hungary has filed a 11-point plan to Kyiv on minority rights that includes the areas of education, language and cultural rights
“These negotiations are proceeding very positively,” Magyar said. “We hope to conclude these technical-level negotiations as early as this week.”
Ukraine hopes to join the EU as early as next year. But Budapest has so far prevented Kyiv from opening any negotiating “clusters” — groups of policy chapters core to accession talks. Should Hungary lift its veto, several clusters could be opened in the coming months.
In a letter to EU leaders two weeks ago, Merz proposed a more-immediate “associate membership” status for Ukraine that would grant the country access to EU institutions and closed-door debates, even before becoming an official member — a process that would be likely to take years. Zelenskyy rejected Merz’s proposal, saying “Ukraine’s place in the European Union must also be complete — full and equal.”
Asked whether expanded minority rights were a prerequisite for opening negotiating clusters, Magyar said it was “a fundamental expectation” of his government that Ukraine guarantees the cultural and linguistic rights of its Hungarian minority.
“Hopefully we are already close to a conclusion,” he said.
Magyar, however, also stressed that Budapest’s position to military aid to Kyiv remains unchanged.
“Hungary will not send either soldiers or weapons to Ukraine, not even under the new Hungarian government,” he said.