Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha held his first in-person meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban during a NATO meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on Thursday, May 22.
The ministers reviewed the results of the first round of bilateral expert-level consultations on national minority issues held earlier this week and agreed to organize a second round next week.
“We recognize the importance of progress on this track; we seek to find constructive solutions and achieve tangible results,” Sybiha said after the meeting.
“I emphasized the critical importance of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and the timely opening of negotiation clusters,” he added.
According to Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Sybiha also briefed his Hungarian counterpart on battlefield developments, the peace process and Europe’s potential future role in supporting Ukraine.
Kyiv, Budapest seek to restore dialogue
The diplomats agreed that restoring bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and Hungary is a positive development for both countries and Europe as a whole. They also coordinated further bilateral contacts at different levels.
On Wednesday, two countries held online talks aimed at reviving strained bilateral relations following the election defeat of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“Ukraine wants to open a new, mutually beneficial chapter in our bilateral relations based on trust,” Sybiha said in a statement published on X ahead of the talks.
Sybiha said Ukraine’s EU accession should be viewed as “a strategic interest for Hungary,” adding that membership would help strengthen Hungarian national unity and ensure the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
Relations between Kyiv and Budapest had been strained for years over disagreements on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region and Hungary’s repeated blocking of some EU initiatives related to Ukraine.
“The consistent protection of the rights of national minorities is the first issue we must address,” Anita Orbán said.
“Genuine progress requires open, honest, and professional dialogue built on clear legal guarantees. I believe that today’s consultations can mark the beginning of a new process,” she added.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar previously said resolving minority rights issues remains a key condition for Budapest’s support for opening the first negotiation cluster in Ukraine’s EU accession talks. He confirmed that Hungary and Ukraine launched technical consultations regarding the language, educational and cultural rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region.
“We sent a message to the Ukrainian side, and technical consultations have begun regarding the language, cultural and other rights of the Hungarian minority living in Transcarpathia,” Magyar said.
“This is a prerequisite for us to give our approval for the opening of the first chapter in Ukraine’s EU accession,” he added.