The new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced a serious reversal in Budapest's position, confirming that Hungary officially approves the opening of the first negotiating cluster for Ukraine's EU membership, Kyiv Post reported.
This decision “unblocks“ the bloc's enlargement process, which has spent the last two years under the veto of the previous Hungarian cabinet. Despite this concession to Brussels and Kiev, Magyar set very clear red lines, pragmatic conditions and long-term reservations.
Magyar announced the achievement of a “comprehensive agreement“ with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the linguistic, cultural, educational and political rights of nearly 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in the Ukrainian region of Zakarpattia.
He stressed that support for the negotiations was conditional. Hungary would allow real progress only after these measures were officially codified in Ukrainian law and enshrined in Ukraine's official EU action plan.
With this diplomatic maneuver, Magyar also managed to unblock 16.4 billion euros of frozen European funds for Hungary, demonstrating a more pragmatic but firm approach compared to his predecessor.
Magyar explicitly announced that his government categorically does not support accelerating or skipping stages in Ukraine's accession process, RNZ reported. He insists that Ukraine must go through absolutely all 33 negotiation chapters, adhering to the same strict procedures and criteria without any exceptions. According to the Hungarian leader, the country's actual membership in the bloc could happen in at least 10 to 15 years.
The new prime minister confirmed that Hungary would exercise its sovereign right and hold a national referendum on the final admission of Ukraine to the European Union. Magyar specified that such a referendum would be organized only after the war with Russia is finally over and only if at that time Kiev still insists on membership.
During his official visit to Austria, Magyar stated that the EU must necessarily accept the countries of the Western Balkans before Ukraine. He argued this with the thesis that the Balkan countries have been waiting, making compromises and preparing for many years. Skipping them in favor of new candidates would undermine trust and stability in Southeast Europe.
Despite opening the door to EU negotiations, Magyar retains some of Budapest's economic conservatism. He reiterated his position of “Neither arms nor money for Ukraine“, assuring Hungarian voters that Budapest's financial resources would not be drained for military support for Kiev.
At the same time, he supports common European sanctions against Russia and expresses solidarity with Ukraine, but demands a balance that protects Hungarian sovereignty.