Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Madyar said that more than 100 thousand ethnic Hungarians living in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region are allegedly deprived of basic human rights in Ukraine. He stated this in an interview with Rzeczpospolita, published on May 22.
Madyar said that Budapest is ready for a new stage of relations with Ukraine, but before that, he said, it is necessary to resolve the issue of the rights of the Hungarian minority.
“We are talking about the right to language, culture and administrative autonomy. More than 100 thousand Hungarians live in Transcarpathia without basic human rights,” Madyar said.
He also said that Ukraine and Hungary have already begun technical negotiations on this matter and Budapest has outlined its position in 11 points. If progress is achieved, the parties can move on to high-level negotiations, and subsequently to a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Transcarpathia.
Separately, Madyar noted that this issue will affect Hungary’s position regarding support for the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
