Kyiv and Budapest have agreed to hold regular consultations to open negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the European Union. Hungary is currently blocking the opening of the first cluster of negotiating chapters between the EU and Ukraine.
This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna following the results of negotiations with the Hungarian side, which were held for the first time on this issue.
From May 12, teams from the Ukrainian and Hungarian sides will work on a regular basis until they determine the entire list of tasks within the framework of the 11 recommendations that are "the subject of Hungaryʼs concern".
For the negotiations that took place on April 29, the Ukrainian delegation brought to Budapest additional proposals regarding the settlement of a complex of issues — both about the start of negotiations and about specific ideas provided by Kyiv.
"We expect to work on the Hungarian sideʼs counter-proposals this week, and we expect to have interim results on May 12," Stefanishyna noted.
Hungary blocks Ukraineʼs entry into the EU
In April 2025, the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán called on Hungarians to vote against Ukraineʼs membership in the EU in a national poll. The Hungarian government explicitly stated that Ukraineʼs accelerated accession to the EU would negatively affect the lives of all Hungarians and cause enormous losses to the country.
Before that, in March, on the anniversary of the national liberation revolution of 1848-1849, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban put forward a list of demands to the European Union on March 15. One of them is "Union, but without Ukraine".
Hungary is making a number of demands on Ukraine and demanding that the rights of the Hungarian minority be strengthened. And since the EU has a unanimity rule, Hungary is able to keep Ukraine out of the bloc for as long as it wants.
Instead, Ukraine "repeatedly and persistently" confirmed its readiness to maintain good relations with its neighbours, in particular on issues related to the protection of the rights of national minorities. And agreed to Hungaryʼs 11 recommendations regarding national minorities.
What conditions of Hungary are we talking about?
Hungary is asking to restore to the national minority all the rights it had before 2015. In 11 points, Budapest formulated the Hungarian issues, in particular, that the status of the national school be restored, that there be the opportunity to take exams for a certificate of knowledge of the Hungarian language again, that it can be used unhindered in higher education, culture, and public life.
These 11 demands, which are supposed to guarantee the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Ukraine, were presented to the Ukrainian side by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó at the end of January. According to him, these conditions were included in the negotiating framework for Ukraineʼs accession to the EU, which was finally approved on June 21.
Back in March 2024, the European Commission prepared a negotiating framework for Ukraineʼs membership in the EU, and on June 7, this executive body of the European Union recognized that Ukraine had fulfilled all the requirements and recommended the start of accession negotiations. However, on the same day, the permanent representatives of the EU countries could not make a decision on the start of negotiations for some time, as Hungary opposed it. Budapest stated that it "has conditions that still need to be met, otherwise it will not be able to accept the Commissionʼs assessment". The point was made about Ukraineʼs alleged insufficient progress in the protection of national minorities.
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