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After the agreement with Hungary, Ukraine approaches membership in the European Union

2026-06-04 16:03:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

After the agreement with Hungary, Ukraine approaches membership in the European

Hungary and Ukraine have reached an agreement on the rights of Ukraine's ethnic Hungarian minority, an issue that has long strained relations between the two countries.

The deal will boost Ukraine's early bid to join the EU, with Budapest saying it would waive former Prime Minister Viktor Orban's veto on Kiev's admission to the bloc if a deal is reached.

Kiev has been pushing to be allowed to join the EU, in part to bolster its security as it fights a full-scale Russian invasion set to begin in 2022. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said the "historic agreement" would improve rights for more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine's western Transcarpathia region.

He said it took his government just three weeks of negotiations to reach the agreement. Magyar said Ukraine had agreed to implement the changes to the law and include them in its action plan on minorities, which was submitted to the EU.

After Orban's ouster in April, Magyar said Budapest wanted Ukraine to change its action plan for minorities as a precondition for consenting "to the opening of the first batch of accession negotiations for Ukraine's EU membership."

The EU has now said it will take Ukraine, along with Moldova, to the next stage of their membership bids, while welcoming the deal announced by Hungary. Marta Kos, the EU's enlargement chief, said the agreement paves the way for progress on Ukraine's path to EU accession.

The first negotiating group focuses on fundamental issues, including the rule of law, judicial reform, and public administration standards.

The European Union officially opened accession negotiations with Ukraine in June 2024, but this was a largely symbolic move, with any further steps towards Kiev's accession blocked by Orban's veto.

Meanwhile, Magyar said his country still opposes an accelerated accession process for Ukraine. He said Budapest would support Ukraine's membership if it completed all 33 accession chapters over the next 10 to 15 years and if this move received support in a legally binding referendum in Hungary. /CNA