The Prime Minister of Hungary, Péter Magyar, has indicated this Tuesday that the understanding with Ukraine regarding the linguistic rights of the Hungarian minority "is close" to being definitively settled. He stressed that this issue is a prerequisite for holding a potential meeting with the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenski.
"Hungarians living in Ukraine are not asking for more than fundamental rights. There is no need to make a big fuss, because the agreement is close," declared the head of the Hungarian government during a joint appearance with the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, as part of his official visit to Berlin, according to information released by Telex.
Magyar insisted that it is essential to find a resolution to this dispute, which has been ongoing for more than ten years and has further complicated the already tense relations between Kyiv and Budapest. He is confident that, with the arrival of new Hungarian authorities after the years of Viktor Orbán, a different era can be inaugurated in bilateral ties.
Recently, Magyar had already announced that Hungary and Ukraine had initiated the first technical contacts to analyze the situation of the rights of the 100,000 Hungarians residing in Ukrainian territory, particularly in the Transcarpathia region.
For his part, Merz expressed that he understands that Budapest "needs to clarify bilateral issues" with Ukraine, including the status of the Hungarian minority. However, he warned that this matter cannot be used as a pretext to slow down support for Kyiv in the face of the Russian invasion, a pillar of European consensus that had been questioned by Orbán until now.
"It cannot be done at the expense of European support, nor can it distract us from the objective of officially starting accession negotiations with Ukraine," emphasized the German Chancellor.