An agreement with Hungary on minority rights in Transcarpathia has entered into force in Ukraine
Hungary and Ukraine have officially signed an agreement to safeguard the rights of ethnic Hungarians living in the Zakarpattia region.
According to the head of the Hungarian government, Ukraine has committed to implementing all provisions of the agreement and has incorporated them into its action plan for the protection of national minorities as part of its preparations for accession to the European Union.
“The historic agreement between Hungary and Ukraine on the educational, cultural, linguistic, and political rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia has entered into force,” Magyar stated.
He emphasized that Ukraine’s fulfillment of its commitments will now be monitored by the European Commission and the European Council. Failure to comply with the agreements on the protection of national minority rights could complicate Ukraine’s further progress toward EU membership.
Although the full text of the document has not yet been made public, Péter Magyar previously reported that the agreement covers the educational, linguistic, cultural, and political rights of approximately 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
The issue of protecting the Hungarian minority has remained one of the most complex in relations between Kyiv and Budapest over the past decade. The Hungarian side has repeatedly raised objections regarding Ukrainian legislation in the areas of education and language policy.
The Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized that his government had achieved a result that previous Hungarian leaders had been unable to secure.
“In just a few weeks, we managed to resolve an issue that the Orbán government had been unable to resolve in ten years,” said Magyar.
Following the agreement, Hungary supported the opening of the first negotiation cluster in Ukraine’s accession process to the European Union.
At the same time, the Hungarian prime minister stressed that Ukraine’s path to EU membership could be a long one. He cited Montenegro as an example, which began accession negotiations back in 2012 but has not yet become a full member of the European Union.
This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who called the agreement historic, according to DailyNewsHungary.
The new Hungarian government agreed that the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Ukraine will be ensured within the framework of current Ukrainian legislation and the approved action plan.
The action plan regarding national minorities, which was agreed upon with Hungary, will apply to all national minorities in Ukraine and will be implemented in 2026–2027.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga will visit Hungary next week, where he is expected to make concessions on the language issue.
We previously reported that Ukraine hopes to improve dialogue with Hungary regarding the development of bilateral relations, and certain changes in this direction are already taking place.
