Hungarian PM: Ukraine-EU talks approved after minority rights safeguards adopted

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said he agreed to the opening of the first negotiating cluster in Ukraine's EU accession talks after Kyiv decided to amend its national minority protection action plan in a version agreed with EU member states.

Source: European Pravda, citing Magyar on Facebook

Details: Magyar said that within a matter of weeks, his government had managed to achieve what his predecessor, Viktor Orbán, had failed to accomplish in ten years, and that the rights of the Hungarian minority are now guaranteed. He described the agreement as historic.

He also said that Budapest had secured guarantees from the European Union regarding the implementation of the bilateral agreement regulating the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast.

"The Ukrainian side has officially committed itself to implementing every provision and has incorporated the agreement into the EU Action Plan on National Minorities," Magyar wrote in a post accompanying a video message.

Magyar stated that this means that fulfilling the commitments contained in the Hungarian-Ukrainian agreement on minority rights, aimed at addressing the rights of the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia Oblast, has now also become a requirement of the EU. He added that compliance with these commitments will be continuously monitored by the European Commission and the European Council.

"If Ukraine fails to fulfil its obligations regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority within the agreed timeframe, it will not be able to move forward in the process of joining the EU," he said.

Magyar stated that the agreements reached were a prerequisite for Hungary's approval of the opening of the first negotiating cluster between Ukraine and the EU.

Meanwhile, he stressed that opening the first negotiating cluster is only the first step in what will be a long and complex process.

Background:

• On 12 June, the European Union officially confirmed the launch of accession negotiations with Ukraine.
• Prior to that, Ukraine fulfilled the final requirement set by Hungary for the opening of the first accession talks cluster.

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