Hungary and Ukraine Reach Agreement on Minority Rights
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced a historic deal with Ukraine guaranteeing minority rights for ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, potentially unblocking Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.
Hungary's new Prime Minister Peter Magyar has announced an agreement with Ukraine that he described as 'historic.' The deal focuses on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine's western Transcarpathia region. In a Facebook video, Magyar claimed that in three weeks he achieved what Viktor Orban could not in ten years.
Under the agreement, Ukraine has pledged to secure broader rights for the Hungarian minority, particularly in education and language. Magyar stated that '100,000 Hungarians are regaining fundamental rights,' though many of these language rights already existed. A key new element is the use of minority languages in public administration, including bilingual signs for place names and government buildings where minorities constitute over 10% of the local population. This is also an EU membership requirement, not solely a result of Magyar's negotiations.
The deal also ensures that minority schools will be maintained even with few children. The number of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia has dropped sharply since Russia's full-scale invasion, now estimated at around 80,000.
Laszlo Zubanics, a prominent leader of the Hungarian minority and head of the Ukrainian Hungarian Democratic Federation, welcomed the agreement as a 'very important and truly historic step.' He noted that the joint Ukrainian-Hungarian working group on minority issues last met in 2011 and will now convene when problems arise. Zubanics hopes the new legislation will be in place by the end of 2027 at the latest.
The agreement could pave the way for the first chapters of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine. Magyar has expressed readiness to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy soon, though the exact time and location remain unconfirmed. This would be the first in-person meeting between the leaders after over a decade and a half of strained relations.
Under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary was hostile toward Ukraine, with Orban labeling it an 'evil empire.' A recent investigation by Hungarian news portal Telex revealed that a raid on a Ukrainian armored cash transport in March, which seized some €70 million and nine kilograms of gold, was politically motivated and orchestrated by Orban for campaign purposes. Magyar has condemned such actions.
