The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, announced his appeal to the Hungarian side to resume consultations on issues concerning national minorities. During his visit to Brussels, at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, he emphasized that Ukraine is fulfilling all necessary procedures and is ready to open three clusters on its path to membership in the European Union.
This is reported by Kyiv24
“Of course, I raised the issue of opening the first cluster. Ukraine is doing its homework. We have completed the necessary procedures. We are ready to open three clusters. I addressed our Hungarian colleagues during the meeting with a direct proposal to resume consultations in order to expedite this process,” he noted during the visit.
Discussion of Issues at the Bilateral Level and the Situation with National Minorities
According to Sybiha, Kyiv is interested in dialogue with the Hungarian side on important issues concerning national minorities. He stressed that Ukraine has already implemented high standards for the protection of minorities and strives to meet the standards of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
«They are important for both sides. We believe that no country has the right to abuse its status as an EU or NATO country. Ukraine has already implemented the highest standards for the protection of national minorities, and we are ready to implement the highest standards of the European Union and the Council of Europe regarding the protection of national minorities»
Additionally, according to reports, at the end of April, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna visited Budapest, where she negotiated with the Hungarian side on issues concerning national minorities. However, the negotiations were later postponed against the backdrop of the exposure of an intelligence network of military intelligence in the Russian Federation, which operated to the detriment of Ukraine.
The European Commission confirmed back in March 2025 that Ukraine is ready to open the first negotiation cluster regarding EU accession. However, Hungary blocked this process, demanding the return of legislation on national minorities to the 2017 model.
After an urgent meeting of EU leaders in Brussels, the official Budapest opposed Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and refused to support a joint statement on this issue. Orban later presented a series of conditions to Brussels, including a ban on “unnatural upbringing of children” and the deportation of Soros agents.