Media: Ukraine, Hungary agree on most EU accession conditions

Ukraine and Hungary have reached an agreement on 10 out of 11 conditions set by Budapest in the context of Kyiv’s bid to join the European Union, leaving one key issue unresolved, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported, citing sources familiar with the talks.

The breakthrough came during technical-level consultations held last week as part of Ukraine’s broader European integration process. According to the report, the only outstanding issue concerns the representation of national minorities in Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

The question has been temporarily set aside, but Hungary has nevertheless agreed to allow the opening of the first cluster of accession negotiations between Ukraine and the European Union.

Both sides agreed to seek guidance from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, as well as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, on how provisions related to minority representation could be implemented. The issue is expected to resurface during negotiations on the first cluster, which includes human rights matters.

In several EU member states, including Croatia, Romania and Slovenia, electoral systems incorporate special quotas to ensure parliamentary representation for national minorities.

Sources cited by Suspilne also said that Bulgaria is preparing to raise its own demands regarding minority rights in Ukraine.

EU ambassadors are expected on Wednesday, June 10, to approve the bloc’s negotiation position for the opening cluster of Ukraine’s accession talks, outlining both interim benchmarks and final conditions.

Earlier, on June 2, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said that technical discussions between Kyiv and Budapest on the linguistic, cultural and educational rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine were ongoing and could be concluded within the week.

By Tamilla Hasanova