In an interview, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó stated that if Kyiv seeks European Union membership, it must offer strong guarantees for the protection of national minority rights. The minister was asked whether it could be said that Ukraine will not join the EU for now. He responded that he wouldn’t go that far, but underscored that safeguarding the rights of national communities is one of the EU’s core principles. He noted that the rights of Hungarians had already been restored. [citation]
Szijjártó added that those pursuing EU accession need to embed very strong protections for minority rights into their national legislation. He emphasized that this is a fundamental prerequisite for any country aiming to advance toward EU membership. [citation]
From Budapest’s perspective, there is a clear expectation that Hungarians living in Ukraine should regain the rights they enjoyed before 2014, a period considered a benchmark for the community. The minister pointed to a continuity of legal and social guarantees that would ensure Hungarians in Ukraine could participate fully in civic life and maintain their cultural and linguistic rights. [citation]
Gergely Guiyash, the former head of the Prime Minister’s Office, commented that Viktor Orban’s decision on visiting Kyiv would depend on the progress made in restoring the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region. Guiyash highlighted that the stance of the Hungarian government remains closely tied to tangible improvements on the ground, with media and diplomatic attention focusing on how rights protections translate into real everyday freedoms. [citation]