“‘Hungary will not block’: expert explains what the opening of the first cluster in Ukraine’s EU accession means

Political scientist Ruslan Bortnik said that relations between Ukraine and Hungary are trending toward normalization, EU accession negotiations will continue, but the issue of the Hungarian minority remains, reports Politeka.

He said this in his blog.

‘I think that resolving the minority issue will not be easy without deep compromises. Unless, of course, Hungary agrees to the Romanian scenario, under which this issue was settled through an intergovernmental agreement — then it could happen quickly. But I remind you that Magyar has essentially repeated all of Orban’s demands regarding the Hungarian minority, and most of them require legislative changes, meaning amendments to Ukrainian laws through parliament. This cannot happen quickly by definition,’ Ruslan Bortnik explains.

Overall, he notes, it does not look like Ukraine is ready to quickly change its legislation, while Magyar is not ready to give up key demands, which include, among other things, the free use of the Hungarian language in local self-government, representation of the Hungarian minority in the Ukrainian parliament, and so on.

However, the expert notes, Hungary has most likely indeed отказed from blocking the start of negotiations with Ukraine. The opening of the first negotiation cluster between Ukraine and the EU is scheduled for June 15. This is good news, but, he explains, the first cluster is only the beginning, not the final victory: it is opened first and closed last, and its assessment takes place throughout the entire negotiation process, which can last 1, 2, 3 years, or even 10 or 20 years.

‘That is, this is only the beginning of negotiations. Hungary will most likely not block, but negotiations on national minorities will continue in any case. It is very positive news that relations between Ukraine and Hungary are trending toward normalization, because having enemies in the West, and especially inside the EU and NATO, is very, very disadvantageous and very costly,’ Ruslan Bortnik concludes.”