Hungary insists on Ukraine’s fulfillment of 11 conditions relating to the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Transcarpathia. Budapest claims that this is a necessary step for the normalization of bilateral relations. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced this during a briefing in Brussels, Channel 24 reports. The PromPolitInform portal reports.
What demands has Hungary put forward for Ukraine?
According to him, this is a package of proposals that is not new and has been discussed between the parties for a long time. Budapest insists that the Ukrainian side must agree to these requirements for the further development of bilateral relations.
Magyar stressed that Hungary expects guarantees for the approximately 100 thousand Hungarians living in Ukraine, in particular regarding the possibility of using their native language in education, cultural life and public administration. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, several rounds of technical consultations have already taken place between the countries. After their completion, Budapest expects to make changes to Ukrainian legislation, as well as further negotiations at the level of foreign ministers.
Among the key demands of Hungary are changes in the educational sphere, in particular regarding the languages of instruction and the possibility of taking exams in Hungarian, as well as the expansion of language rights in the media, advertising and the service sector in regions of compact community residence. Separately, Budapest raises the issue of political representation, proposing the introduction of quotas for the Hungarian minority in the Verkhovna Rada and local authorities. Changes in the administrative structure of Transcarpathia were also previously discussed.
After the technical negotiations are completed, the Hungarian side is counting on a personal meeting between the Prime Minister and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, which, according to Budapest, may take place in the Hungarian-speaking regions of Ukraine.
As a reminder, the new Prime Minister of Hungary stated that before supporting the start of official negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, the Ukrainian authorities should expand the rights of the Hungarian national minority. According to him, Budapest is ready to agree to the opening of the first negotiation cluster only on the condition that these rights are guaranteed in Ukraine. Magyar emphasized that this issue is of principle, as it concerns compliance with the rule of law and democratic standards.
In addition, the Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized that his country will not send weapons and military equipment “to the Russian-Ukrainian war.” However, Magyar noted that the Hungarian military will continue to participate in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and is doing “excellent work.”
