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Ukraine and Hungary have reportedly agreed on 10 of Budapest’s 11 conditions related to Ukraine’s EU accession process, leaving only one outstanding issue before the opening of formal membership negotiations.
What has been agreed
During technical consultations last week, Kyiv and Budapest reached consensus on 10 of the 11 demands put forward by Hungary. The only unresolved matter concerns parliamentary representation for national minorities in Ukraine.
The issue has been set aside for now, and Hungary has nevertheless agreed to support the opening of the first cluster of EU accession talks.
Both sides have decided to seek guidance from the Council of Europe and the OSCE on how minority representation could be implemented in practice. The matter may re-emerge during negotiations within the first cluster, which covers fundamental rights and rule-of-law issues.
Bulgaria may be next
According to sources cited by Suspilne, Bulgaria is also expected to raise concerns regarding minority rights.
“Bulgaria wants stronger guarantees for the educational rights of its minority in Ukraine. Many members of the community abroad traditionally speak Russian, and Sofia wants to promote the use of the Bulgarian language,” one EU diplomat said.
What happens next
EU ambassadors are expected to meet on Wednesday to approve the negotiating framework for the first accession cluster, including a list of interim and final benchmarks Ukraine must meet.
Several EU member states, including Croatia, Romania and Slovenia, already operate electoral systems that provide special parliamentary representation for national minorities.
According to Politico, the EU is aiming to open the first negotiating cluster with Ukraine at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg on June 15. Brussels is also considering the possibility of opening two negotiation clusters simultaneously following recent progress in the accession process.
On June 5, Ukrainian officials described their agreement with Hungary as a significant step forward, noting that implementation will be based on the National Minorities Action Plan adopted last year under the “Fundamentals” accession cluster.
