Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reportedly set to visit Budapest in the near future, according to Ukraine’s Ambassador to Hungary Sándor Fegyir. Speaking to the Hungarian outlet Magyar Hang, the diplomat confirmed that ‘talks are underway’ regarding a visit to the Hungarian capital.
Fegyir added that no specific date has yet been set for the meeting.
His remarks came two days after Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that Budapest and Kyiv had reached a political agreement on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia on 3 June, following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
In a post published on X, Magyar described the agreement as a breakthrough achieved after several weeks of intensive technical-level negotiations involving Hungarian and Ukrainian officials, as well as political and religious organizations representing the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia.
According to the Hungarian prime minister, Kyiv has committed to expanding the linguistic, educational, cultural, and political rights of the more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the region and to incorporating the agreed measures into Ukrainian law in the near future.
Magyar stated that the package would restore and strengthen the rights of the Hungarian minority in education, language use, culture, and public life. He added that the commitments would also be incorporated into Ukraine’s action plan submitted to the European Union as part of the accession process.
If Kyiv fulfils these obligations, Hungary will support the opening of the first cluster of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, removing one of the most significant obstacles that has blocked progress in the process for more than a year.
Reacting to the agreement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced that all 27 EU member states had given the green light to proceed with preparations for opening the first accession cluster with Ukraine and Moldova, describing the decision as another step towards EU membership. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos also welcomed the agreement, stating that the understanding between Budapest and Kyiv on minority rights ‘opens the way for progress’ on Ukraine’s European integration path.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy likewise welcomed the development, reaffirming Ukraine’s commitment to advancing its EU accession process and noting that recent progress in relations with Hungary had created favourable conditions for moving negotiations forward. The Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union has already begun preparations for formally opening the first negotiating cluster, which could take place later this month.
‘Magyar stressed that Hungary remains opposed to any accelerated accession process’
While signalling support for the opening of negotiations, Magyar stressed that Hungary remains opposed to any accelerated accession process. He reiterated that Ukraine would still have to complete all 33 negotiating chapters and that any eventual accession would be subject to a legally binding referendum in Hungary.
Earlier this week, Magyar said he was ready to meet Zelenskyy for talks regarding the agreement reached during the expert-level negotiations. It is important to note that no senior-level meetings took place between the two administrations during the three-week negotiation process.
Magyar had previously invited the Ukrainian president to meet him in Berehove (Beregszász), a Hungarian-majority town in Transcarpathia, at the beginning of June; however, that meeting has yet to materialize.
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