Hungary abandons its blockade of Ukraine’s European path due to changes in the minority education law

Hungary has decided to withdraw its veto on opening two chapters in Ukraine’s accession negotiations with the European Union (EU), after Kyiv agreed to amend the minority education law so that Budapest would lift the blockade it has used in various forms for nearly a decade, writes the Brussels portal EUalajv (eualive.net).

This dispute between Budapest and Kyiv predates the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian education law of 2017 and the language law of 2019 reduced the scope of education in minority languages and mandated broader use of the Ukrainian language in secondary grades.

Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban treated these changes as an attack on the Hungarian community in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, blocked Ukraine’s steps toward NATO and EU membership, and for years told Hungarian voters that Kyiv was hostile toward Hungarians.

The government of Peter Magyar, which took power in Hungary this spring by defeating Orban’s Fidesz, initially escalated the dispute. At the recent first summit of the Carpathian Initiative, held in Ukraine, Magyar accused Kyiv of acting without Budapest’s consent and annulled the agreement between Ukraine’s Naftogaz and Hungary’s MOL on oil storage. This was in response to claims by Orban’s party that the new Hungarian government had become too pro-Ukrainian.

Kyiv did not respond in kind, and Budapest soon changed its stance after a meeting between the foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine, Anita Orban and Andriy Sybiha, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. At the same time, contacts continued between Anita Orban and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Vsevolod Chentsov.

The agreement, according to EUalajv, represents an old promise with a new implementation mechanism—Ukraine will submit amendments to the education law, which is already an official criterion for joining the Union, as it was agreed with the Hungarian, Romanian, and other minorities.

Hungary enabled the Irish presidency to request Ukraine’s negotiating positions for Cluster 2 (Internal Market) and Cluster 3 (Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth), and announced that it would allow them to be opened on October 13 in Luxembourg.

Chentsov stated that Kyiv’s goal is to open all clusters by the end of the year, and informed diplomats say that a meeting between Magyar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will likely be needed before the last two clusters are opened.