Hungary's Magyar says he will hold brief meeting with Zelenskyy in Brussels and hopes for "new chapter"

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has announced that he plans to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday to discuss changes in the relationship between the two countries.

Source: Magyar speaking to journalists ahead of the European Council meeting, as reported by European Pravda

Details: On his way to the EU summit, Magyar confirmed to Hungarian media that he intends to meet Zelenskyy on Friday.

"On Friday morning, I am expecting to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy here in the Council building. We will briefly review what we have achieved over the past few months," he said.

Magyar also sought to explain Hungary's decision to open EU accession negotiations with Ukraine. He repeatedly assured the Hungarian journalists that this does not guarantee a positive outcome for the accession talks, and also placed responsibility for Ukraine's progress towards EU membership on his predecessor, Viktor Orbán.

"Ukraine was able to start negotiations because the previous government, Orbán's government, approved it. But that fact alone means nothing. This could take a long time," he explained.

Magyar also said he sees "benefits" in the process.

Quote: "Everyone can see the historic success we have achieved in just a few weeks, because we have strengthened the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia [Zakarpattia Oblast] as regards education, language use and administrative procedures. From this point of view, this is a benefit to us."

Details: Separately, Magyar stressed that the meeting with Zelenskyy in Brussels will be brief.

"We will see what we can agree on with the president in those 10-15 minutes. I hope we can reach a point where a new chapter truly opens and we can meet in Berehove [a city in Zakarpattia Oblast – ed.]," the prime minister said.

Background:

• All EU member states agreed to open negotiating clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine on 12 October. To make this possible, the Ukrainian parliament approved amendments to the law on education to lift Hungary's veto.
• Kyiv has said that the time and venue need to be agreed before Zelenskyy and Magyar can hold a full-scale meeting.

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