Hungary again demands the restoration of the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians as a condition for Ukraine’s accession to the EU

Hungary again raised the issue of protecting the rights of the Hungarian national minority in Transcarpathia as a key condition for unblocking negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. About this stated Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijarto in his Facebook post on March 22.

Szijarto reported that he had a telephone conversation with his new Austrian colleague, during which he once again raised the topic of the so-called systematic violations of the rights of the Hungarian community in the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine. According to him, these issues are directly related to Ukraine’s European integration aspirations.

“The situation with the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine remains unchanged. Despite numerous promises and beautiful words, the government of Ukraine still has not returned to the Hungarian community the rights that were taken away from it since 2015. This is unacceptable and completely contrary to common European rules and values.” – said the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.

Szijarto emphasized that while, as he said, this “unfortunate situation” continues, Hungary sees no possibility for any progress in the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

We will remind you that this is not the first such statement from the official Budapest. On March 20, the Minister of European Union Affairs of Hungary, Janos Boka, stated that Budapest does not see the need for Ukraine’s membership in the EU at all, and instead advocates the creation of a so-called “buffer zone” between Russia and Europe.

Earlier, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi directly stated that the only country that openly blocks Ukraine’s progress towards EU membership is Hungary itself.

On March 7, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on the X social network that he intends to submit the issue of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union to a vote within the country, and the Hungarian people will decide the fate of this issue. He emphasized that the government will act according to his will.

Also, at the beginning of March, Hungary already resorted to open steps to block European decisions regarding Ukraine. On March 6, Viktor Orban blocked the adoption of the EU’s final communique, which contained the obligation of member states to support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders.

Against the background of these events, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radosław Sikorski, allowed himself a sarcastic comment on Orban, reacting to his statement about a possible referendum in Hungary regarding Ukraine’s membership in the EU.