Péter Magyar, Hungary’s prime minister, has told Hungarian diplomats not to block letters to Ukraine and Moldova on the possible opening of the next two sets of European Union accession negotiations. The two clusters concern the internal market and competitiveness.
The instruction signals a possible easing of Hungary’s block on Ukraine’s EU membership talks after Kyiv agreed to bring forward legislation on minority education rights for Hungarians.
Budapest’s full political support remains conditional. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is due to vote on 12 October on a law expanding educational opportunities for national minorities. The opening of the next two clusters depends on the bill’s adoption.
If the Verkhovna Rada passes the law, the formal process for opening negotiations could begin before an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels in 10 days. The outcome of the vote, Hungary’s response if it passes, and whether that timetable can be met remain uncertain.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Taras Kachka, said the paperwork required from Ukraine and the European Commission for the remaining clusters had been completed. Marta Kos, the European commissioner for enlargement, said the four remaining clusters were technically ready to open and that Ukraine had met the necessary conditions.
Ukraine applied for EU membership on 28 February 2022, during active conflict, and gained candidate status in June 2022. Formal accession negotiations began on 25 June 2024.
The talks are divided into six thematic clusters covering the full body of EU law. All 33 negotiating chapters require unanimous approval from all 27 EU countries before they can be closed. This structure has given Hungary scope to hold up progress over its dispute with Kyiv on minority rights.
Hungary lifted a 17-month veto on Ukraine’s EU accession in June 2026. Within weeks, it warned that it would halt Ukraine’s path towards membership unless Kyiv implemented an agreement on the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
Two clusters, ‘Fundamentals’ and ‘Foreign Relations’, opened for Ukraine in June and July 2026. Hungary then blocked the four still outstanding. Should the internal market and competitiveness clusters open, two further clusters covering environment, agriculture and regional development would remain. The European Commission wants all remaining clusters opened by the end of the year.
The dispute centres on a minority whose language and schooling are rooted in a particular region. About 156,600 Hungarians lived in Ukraine at the time of the 2001 census, mainly in Transcarpathia. Hungarian is the native language for 95% of that community.
Ukraine’s 2017 Law ‘On Education’ required instruction in Ukrainian schools from the fifth grade onwards to be conducted mainly in the state language. Hungary, Romania and Poland raised concerns about the law.
Anita Orbán, Hungary’s foreign minister, said Budapest and Kyiv remained in regular contact over the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia. She said she hoped for positive results by October, when legislation governing education rights could be put before the Verkhovna Rada.
Kyiv has now agreed to propose legislation intended to protect minority education rights for Hungarians. Its contents have yet to be set out publicly in the material available, and the parliamentary decision will determine whether the procedural opening becomes wider political support from Budapest.
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