Hungary and Ukraine will begin expert-level negotiations this week aimed at resolving long-standing disputes over the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Orbán announced on Monday.
Following a phone call with her Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, Orbán explained that the talks will involve representatives of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia and will focus on finding solutions to existing minority rights disputes. The issue has strained bilateral relations between Budapest and Kyiv for years, with ties reaching a historic low under the previous administration of Viktor Orbán.
With the involvement of representatives of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, Hungarian–Ukrainian expert-level consultations aimed at resolving the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia will begin. This was agreed upon during my telephone conversation over…
— Anita Orban (@_OrbanAnita) May 18, 2026
‘Both sides have designated their negotiating delegations, which will hold their first consultations online,’ Orbán wrote in a post on X. She added that the discussions would begin as early as Tuesday and could provide ‘an important foundation for a reassuring and swift settlement of minority rights issues.’
‘I trust that the dialogue will be constructive and productive, and that the negotiations will bring tangible progress for the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia within a short period of time,’ the Hungarian foreign minister stated.
The announcement marks one of the clearest signs yet of a possible reset in Hungarian–Ukrainian relations since the new government led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office in Hungary. Budapest and Kyiv have remained at odds in recent years over Ukraine’s language and education laws, which Hungary argues restrict the rights of the roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Transcarpathia.
In a separate statement published on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s official website, Sybiha described his weekend phone call with Orbán as ‘constructive and substantive’. He confirmed that the next round of Ukrainian–Hungarian expert consultations would take place later this week in order to ‘find practical and effective solutions regarding the situation of the Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia Oblast.’
The Ukrainian foreign minister also thanked the Hungarian government for its ‘principled and rapid response’ following recent Russian strikes against Ukraine and signalled Kyiv’s willingness to improve bilateral ties under Hungary’s new leadership.
‘We are ready to cooperate with Hungary’s new government on all issues on our bilateral agenda, including national minorities, in order to restore trust and good neighbourly relations between our countries,’ Sybiha said.
He further emphasized that Ukraine remains committed to advancing its European Union accession process and raised the issue during the call with Orbán. According to Sybiha, Kyiv is prepared for the ‘swift opening of negotiation clusters’ related to EU membership talks.
Over the weekend, I had a constructive and substantive call with Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, @_OrbanAnita.
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) May 18, 2026
I thanked my colleague for the Hungarian government’s principled and swift reaction to the latest Russian strikes against Ukraine.
I…
The status of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia has long been one of the most contentious issues in Hungary–Ukraine relations. Budapest has repeatedly accused Kyiv of curtailing minority language and education rights through reforms introduced since 2017, while Ukraine has argued that the measures are necessary to strengthen national cohesion during wartime.
The new Hungarian government had previously pledged that restoring minority rights would remain one of its top priorities and a fundamental pillar of further détente with Kyiv. Péter Magyar earlier invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a meeting in the Transcarpathian town of Berehove (Beregszász), while also calling on Kyiv to ‘put an end’ to restrictions on minority rights and ensure that Transcarpathian Hungarians ‘regain all their cultural, linguistic, administrative, and higher education rights,’ allowing them to once again become ‘equal and respected citizens’ of Ukraine.
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