Hungary has agreed to start of Ukraine’s negotiations with EU following agreement on protection of national minorities, – Magyar
Hungary agreed to the start of substantive negotiations on Ukraine’s membership of the European Union only after Kyiv had officially incorporated the requirements regarding the protection of the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia into the EU Action Plan.
This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar in a video address on his Facebook page, reports Censor.NET.
A historic agreement and European guarantees for Budapest
Mátyás described the compromise reached with Ukraine as a "historic victory" for his diplomacy, stating that in a matter of weeks his government had managed to resolve what his predecessor, Viktor Orbán, "failed to achieve in 10 years"
Budapest’s main achievement lies in the fact that the bilateral Ukrainian-Hungarian dispute has now been elevated to the level of official EU requirements:
"The Ukrainian side has officially committed to fulfilling all the points and has included this agreement in the EU Action Plan on Minorities. The European Commission and the European Council will monitor the fulfilment of these commitments in the future," said Magyar.
Threat of a new veto in the next stages
The Hungarian Prime Minister made it clear that Hungary’s current constructive move is not a "green light" for Ukraine’s automatic accession to the bloc. Magyar reminded the Ukrainian authorities that a long and difficult road lies ahead, where every subsequent step will require the consensus of all member states.
He warned that Budapest would closely monitor compliance with the set deadlines:
"If Ukraine fails to fulfil its obligations regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority within the set deadlines, it will simply be unable to move forward in the process of joining the European Union. The agreements reached were a prerequisite for Hungary agreeing at all to the opening of the first negotiation cluster between Ukraine and the EU," the Hungarian Prime Minister concluded.
What led up to this?
- On 12 June, all European Union countries supported the start of accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova. The first negotiation cluster will be officially opened on 15 June.
- The intergovernmental conference will mark the official start of the practical phase of negotiations on Cluster 1. Further progress towards membership will depend on how the states implement the necessary reforms and align their national legislation with European standards.
- Prior to this, Ukraine fulfilled Hungary’s final requirement for the opening of the accession negotiation cluster.
