Hungary and Ukraine have begun negotiations regarding the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia
Hungary has announced the start of technical negotiations with Ukraine regarding the protection of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia, including language, education, and cultural issues. Budapest discussed this with European Council leaders, emphasizing the importance of the issue for the next steps in bilateral relations.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced the start of a technical round of negotiations with Ukraine, during which the parties are discussing the protection of the linguistic, educational, and cultural rights of the Hungarian community living in Transcarpathia, and these talks have already been elevated to the level of European institutions.
He announced this on social media platform X following a conversation with European Council President António Costa, noting that the dialogue with Kyiv has already entered a practical phase.
According to Magyar, this involves a “round of negotiations at the technical level,” the goal of which is to ensure the protection of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine as quickly as possible. “Before the start of today’s government meeting, I informed the President of the European Council by phone that we have begun a round of technical-level negotiations with the Ukrainian side aimed at ensuring the protection of the linguistic, educational, and cultural rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia as soon as possible,” Mádár stated.
He also added that António Costa conveyed to him the position he had shared with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to which respect for the rights of the Hungarian minority must be taken into account before any further decisions are made.
Budapest emphasizes that dialogue with Kyiv must remain ongoing and focused on resolving sensitive issues concerning the Hungarian community in Zakarpattia Oblast.
Earlier, the Hungarian government commented on the massive attack by Russian drones on Transcarpathia, during which the region’s critical infrastructure was struck. Budapest described the situation in the border region as extremely alarming and announced that urgent countermeasures were being prepared.
Transcarpathiahas suffered the most massive attack by the Russian Federation since the start of the war — Regional State Administration.
