Hungary has once again returned to the conditions for Ukraine's accession to the EU
Ukraine and Hungary have reached agreements regarding the rights of the Hungarian community in Zakarpattia, and these provisions have already been included in the Ukraine-EU Action Plan. At the same time, Budapest has stated that failure to implement these agreements could lead to an automatic halt in the negotiation process regarding Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Ukraine and Hungary have reached an agreement on issues related to the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia. These agreements have already been incorporated into the Ukraine-EU Action Plan. At the same time, Budapest warned that if Ukraine fails to fulfill its commitments, negotiations on EU accession could be automatically suspended. This was stated by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Anita Orbán.
According to her, after several weeks of negotiations, Kyiv and Budapest were able to reach a bilateral agreement on the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Transcarpathia. The agreements concern education, public administration, culture, and the use of national symbols. “A major achievement last week was that this agreement was included in the EU-Ukraine Action Plan on National Minorities,” Anita Orbán stated.
She explained that these provisions became part of the first negotiation cluster, which concerns fundamental rights and democracy. It will be officially launched on June 15.
According to the Hungarian minister, the document contains a so-called joint benchmark. It stipulates that if Ukraine fails to fully implement the agreements, the negotiation process regarding EU membership may be automatically suspended. “For Hungary, the fulfillment and implementation of agreements regarding minority rights is a fundamental condition for Ukraine’s European integration,” Orbán emphasized. At the same time, Budapest stated that it would no longer block the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
According to the minister, Hungary supports the classic EU enlargement mechanism, which is based on real changes and concrete results. At the same time, Budapest does not support any alternative or simplified membership formats for Ukraine. Earlier, Ukraine and Hungary reached an agreement on issues related to the rights of the Hungarian minority. The relevant agreement has already entered into force.
Negotiations on EU accession are divided into separate thematic clusters. The first of these concerns fundamental rights, democracy, and the rule of law. It is within this cluster that the agreements between Kyiv and Budapest now fall.
Thus, Hungary declares its readiness to support the negotiation process, but at the same time emphasizes that the implementation of the agreements reached regarding national minorities remains one of the key issues for it on Ukraine’s path to EU membership. This is reported by Radio Liberty.
Poland supports Ukraine’s European integration course and does not impose any additional conditions or reservations regarding this process.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that she would be “the happiest person in the world” if Ukraine were able to sign an accession agreement with the European Union during her term. At the same time, she emphasized that no specific dates have been set in Brussels yet, as the process depends not only on Ukraine but also on all EU member states.
