Hungary and Ukraine are close to a deal on the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, potentially clearing one of the biggest obstacles to Kyiv’s EU accession talks. Kyiv is preparing legislation on minority education rights, with a parliamentary vote expected in October.
The stakes stretch beyond one region. Hungary has blocked further progress in the talks until Ukraine adopts the laws agreed under an 11-point plan.
The Policy Gap
The dispute follows years of strained relations under Viktor Orbán, whose government repeatedly clashed with Kyiv and blocked Ukraine’s progress toward EU membership. Since taking office in May, five months ago, his successor, Péter Magyar, has sought to repair relations.
In June, four months ago, the two countries agreed on the 11-point plan to strengthen minority rights. Hungary then allowed two negotiating clusters to open in Ukraine’s accession talks. Budapest has since insisted that the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, pass the required legislation. The laws are due by the end of the year.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said on social media that Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vsevolod Chsentsov “personally informed me that a bill on the educational rights of national minorities will be submitted to the Ukrainian parliament. We welcome this step.” She added: “Hungary remains interested in the dialogue and in tangible results in the everyday life of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia.”
A bill covering language and cultural rights is due before the Rada later in October. Kyiv hasn’t officially commented on the latest developments. Ukrainian outlet LIGA.net reported that experts from both countries held intensive talks this week and agreed which parts of the 11-point plan Kyiv could deliver.
Fragile Progress
The breakthrough follows another clash. Two weeks earlier, Magyar and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha fell out over President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s C8 regional development initiative. Magyar said Hungary had been included against its will. Sybiha accused him of following in Orbán’s footsteps.
Magyar and Zelenskyy planned to meet, but Magyar made the talks conditional on progress over minority rights.
Dániel Hegedűs, deputy director of the Institut für Europäische Politik, told Euronews the move could reverse recent negative trends in bilateral relations. He also warned of trouble in the Rada. “Given the absence of stable majorities in the Verkhovna Rada, passing the legislation in October is an ambitious goal and a real test of whether the Ukrainian administration can regain political control over issues of strategic importance to the country’s EU integration,” he said.
Hungarian public opinion complicates matters too. Conservative voters remain wary of closer ties with Kyiv after years of hostility towards Ukraine under Orbán. Yet defending ethnic Hungarians abroad is popular among conservatives, and that could give Magyar room to reach a deal.
What Comes Next
If Ukraine passes the minority package, Hungary could lift its veto on opening more chapters in Kyiv’s accession talks. The scope remains unclear. “It remains to be seen whether passage of the law will secure Hungary’s support for opening all negotiation clusters or only for some of them,” Hegedűs said.
He described the best case this way: “In the most positive scenario, passage of the minority law and Hungarian support for opening all negotiation clusters could mark a new era in relations between the two countries.” Approval in Ukraine, he added, “would make Budapest’s continuation of its blockade harder to sustain and significantly more costly politically at the European level.”
Why This Matters: Ukraine’s path to EU membership has hinged on a bilateral dispute over the schooling, language and cultural rights of one minority community. One member state’s veto can hold up a decision of continental importance. Much also rides on whether a deal built on an 11-point plan survives a fragmented Ukrainian parliament. From a pro-European perspective, the episode shows the value of settling minority rights through negotiation within the EU framework rather than through years of blockage. The October vote will show whether Kyiv can deliver and whether Budapest keeps its word when the laws pass. For the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, the test is what changes in everyday life. For Ukrainians, it’s whether the accession process keeps moving.