Hungary and Ukraine have reached a comprehensive agreement to expand the language, education, cultural, and political rights of the some 100,000 ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine's western Transcarpathia region, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on June 3 in a long social media post after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. If implemented, the deal could be a major turning point in strained bilateral ties and lead to Budapest dropping its veto of aid to Ukraine. Magyar, however, stressed that his cabinet would not support the country's fast-track EU accession.

The agreement follows several weeks of negotiations between Hungarian and Ukrainian experts, involving representatives of Hungarian minority organisations and churches in Transcarpathia. According to Magyar, Kyiv has committed to incorporating the agreed measures into Ukrainian legislation and reflecting them in its action plan linked to EU accession.

If Ukraine formally adopts the commitments, Hungary will support opening the first cluster of EU accession negotiations, he added.

The announcement marks a potentially significant breakthrough in one of the most contentious issues in bilateral relations over the past decade. Since 2017, Budapest has repeatedly criticised Ukrainian language and education reforms, arguing that they curtailed the rights of the Hungarian minority.

The dispute escalated after Ukraine adopted education and language laws aimed at strengthening the use of Ukrainian in public life following Russia's annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Under the pretext of the rights abuses by Ukraine, Viktor Orban’s government repeatedly blocked high-level Nato-Ukraine meetings and used its position within the EU to pressure Kyiv over minority rights.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Budapest maintained support for Ukraine's sovereignty but blocked EU decisions on sanctioning Russia and sending military and financial aid to Kyiv.

In the 2026 election campaign, Orban elevated the anti-Ukrainian rhetoric to new levels, calling Ukraine a terrorist state, amongst others.

Magyar claimed that the government managed to achieve in three weeks what the Orban government had failed to secure over many years.

In a long Facebook post, Magyar delved into details of the agreement. Kyiv has agreed to restore the minority school system and allow Hungarian to be used throughout school administration and communication. Students would be able to take school-leaving and university entrance exams in their mother tongue, while schools could issue documents and report cards in Hungarian.

Students would also be allowed to display Hungarian national symbols, including flags and the national anthem. Any expansion of Ukrainian-language instruction in minority schools would require parental consent, and Ukraine has committed to maintaining minority schools even with low enrolment.

Beyond education, the agreement expands language rights in public life. In municipalities where Hungarians make up more than 10% of the population, Hungarian national symbols could be freely used, while Hungarian would be permitted in healthcare, sports, academic events and political activities. Election materials, public notices and advertisements would also be available in Hungarian.

The deal further guarantees the right of ethnic Hungarians to preserve traditions, celebrate national holidays and establish cultural and educational institutions.

Magyar said the rights package would be incorporated into Ukraine's commitments towards the EU and monitored through the accession process. Brussels had requested Ukraine to align its minority rights action plan with the results of the bilateral negotiations, he added.

The prime minister reiterated that Hungary opposes any fast-tracked path to EU membership for Ukraine, saying the country should be subject to the same accession criteria as candidate countries in the Western Balkans, a position largely consistent with that of the previous Orban government.

Kyiv would still need to complete all 33 accession chapters before membership could be considered. If Ukraine succeeds in closing all chapters within the next 10 to 15 years, Hungary would hold a binding referendum on the country's accession, he said.

The Ukrainian government had not publicly commented on the reported agreement.

The Hungarian premier said earlier that he would be ready to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in western Ukraine, once Kyiv agrees to address the issue of minority rights of ethnic Hungarians. He did not make any reference to this in the Facebook post.  

News of the agreement came on the eve of June 4, the Day of National Cohesion, when Hungarians commemorate the signing of the 1920 Trianon Peace Treaty, which redrew Hungary's borders after WWI and left millions of ethnic Hungarians living outside the country's new frontiers, including in present-day Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia.