Ukraine and Hungary have agreed on a joint action plan comprising eleven points to strengthen the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. According to the BBC, citing Ukrainian government sources, the plan was approved by the negotiating teams of both countries on June 3. Budapest has thus lifted its veto on the start of EU accession talks with Kyiv.
Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar said after the talks that his predecessor Viktor Orbán had not achieved in ten years what was now accomplished in three weeks. The Ukrainian government, however, emphasizes that the agreed measures do not represent new obligations but are part of ongoing reforms on the path to EU membership. The concessions are the price for unblocking the process, which Kyiv had been expecting for years.
On June 15, an international conference begins in Luxembourg, where the first negotiation cluster is to be officially opened. This cluster includes, among other things, the area of minority protection. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada still needs to pass a series of legislative changes, the preparation of which, according to experts, could take months. Heated debates over the proposed changes are expected.
Source: www.bbc.com
