Hungary’s new government has rejected a European Commission proposal to deny automatic EU protection to newly arriving Ukrainian men who cannot prove that Kyiv authorized them to leave the country, placing Budapest once again at odds with an immediate political objective of the Ukrainian leadership.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar told parliament on Tuesday that Hungary would not support the measure and had already stated its position at an EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting. He said ‘six or seven’ other member states also opposed the plan, although he did not identify them. Magyar added that an EU decision would not prevent Hungary from accepting people from Transcarpathia fleeing either the war or mobilization.
The decision is particularly significant—and understandable—from the perspective of the around 100,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine’s western Transcarpathia region, which borders Hungary. Hundreds have already served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with many having been killed or taken prisoner of war. Transcarpathian Hungarians have also been subjected to forced conscription since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Protecting the community has been a central element of both the previous Orbán government’s policy towards Kyiv—which has been characterized by deep conflict between the two neighbouring states in recent years—and, so far, the new administration led by Magyar.
‘Kyiv requested the restriction as it seeks to preserve military manpower under martial law’
The Commission proposed on 26 June extending temporary protection for approximately 4.4 million Ukrainians in the EU until 4 March 2028. At the same time, it wants the status withheld from new arrivals who are subject to Ukrainian military obligations and cannot demonstrate that they were legally permitted to leave. Existing beneficiaries would not lose their protection, and those excluded from the automatic scheme would retain the right to apply for asylum individually.
Contrary to some early reporting, the restriction would not wait until March 2027. Under the draft Council decision, it would apply from the day the measure entered into force, while the one-year extension itself would run from March 2027. Adoption requires a qualified majority of at least 15 member states representing 65 per cent of the EU population.
The Commission has presented the change as an attempt to ‘reconcile humanitarian protection’ with Ukraine’s defence requirements. Kyiv requested the restriction as it seeks to preserve military manpower under martial law, which bars most men aged 23 to 60 from leaving without an exemption. Germany, Poland, and Sweden have supported a stricter approach. Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell argued that ‘Ukraine needs more eligible men to remain and fight’, while Germany has pointed to a surge in the number of military-age Ukrainians arriving in the country.
Hungary is not alone in resisting the proposal. Spain and Italy have publicly backed extending the existing framework without narrowing eligibility. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said all Ukrainian citizens should remain protected across the bloc while advocating integration and voluntary return when conditions permit. Magyar’s reference to six or seven opponents suggests a broader coalition—possibly approaching a blocking minority—but public reporting has so far identified only Spain and Italy alongside Hungary.
The Magyar government’s decision comes just days after Budapest frustrated Kyiv by blocking a joint EU position on opening all negotiating clusters in Ukraine’s accession bid. While Magyar lifted Hungary’s long-held veto on opening the first cluster after reaching a political agreement on restoring the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, he argued that Ukraine should not be fast-tracked into the bloc ahead of the long-waiting Western Balkan candidates.
‘Spain and Italy have publicly backed extending the existing framework without narrowing eligibility’
That position is actually closer to the Orbán government’s stance on Ukraine’s EU membership before 2024. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, officials from the previous Hungarian administration, including Orbán himself, supported Ukraine’s eventual accession to the bloc but opposed any fast-track process. It was only later—widely regarded as being connected to the emergence of Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party, as well as the election campaign—that relations deteriorated to the point where Orbán vowed, in March 2025, to block every joint conclusion and decision related to Ukraine.
On military-age refugees, Magyar’s policy also represents clear continuity with Orbán’s. In May 2024 then deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén said Hungary would not extradite Ukrainian men liable for military service and would not investigate their conscription status. He described protecting Transcarpathian Hungarians as a national duty and protecting other Ukrainians as a humanitarian obligation, saying Budapest would not allow refugees to be ‘sent to their deaths’. Orbán subsequently supported both the adoption of the current temporary protection framework in 2022 and its extensions in 2024 and 2025.
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