Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has announced that Budapest has reached an agreement with Kyiv that will open the door for Ukrainians to join the European Union, writes Politico.
Magyar said on the evening of the 3rd of June that the agreement will expand the linguistic, educational, cultural and political rights of the more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Transcarpathia. The rights of the Hungarian minority have long been a source of tension in relations between the two countries, especially since Kyiv passed a law strengthening the status of Ukrainian as the first language in schools. Magyar noted that in three weeks he managed to achieve what Viktor Orbán was unable to do in a decade. Orbán’s government strongly opposed Ukraine’s EU accession, citing violations of the rights of minorities living in Ukraine.
The Hungarian prime minister said that Kyiv has committed to enacting the negotiated measures into law soon. If that happens, Hungary will support the opening of the first round of negotiations, a key step for Ukraine to join the EU. At the same time, the prime minister rejected the idea of fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, saying that
if Ukraine can pass all 33 rounds of negotiations within 10 or 15 years, a referendum would be held in Hungary
to allow its neighbor to join the bloc.
Kyiv has yet to publicly confirm the deal, and neither Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office nor the Foreign Ministry responded to Politico’s request for comment.
Magyar’s statement follows weeks of high-level talks and comes after EU governments decided on the 3rd of June to formally advance Ukraine’s and Moldova’s respective applications to join the bloc. The countries’ representatives began the opening of the first round of negotiations in Brussels.
The EU’s common position on the first round of negotiations is likely to be formally approved next week, paving the way for intergovernmental meetings with Ukraine and Moldova.
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