Hungary ties Ukraine's EU talks to rights of its minority

• Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has made further negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union contingent on resolving the status of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine's Transcarpathia.
• Szijjarto accuses the authorities in Kyiv of deviating from "European principles and values."
• Hungary is the only EU country that did not adopt provisions for further support of Ukraine during the recent EU summits in Brussels.

Szijjarto announced on Saturday in a Facebook post that he raised the issue of the status of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine during a phone conversation with Austria's Foreign Minister, Beate Meinl-Reisinger. The head of Hungarian diplomacy expressed that Kyiv's need to address this issue is a prerequisite for advancing the next stage of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

The minister accused the Ukrainian authorities of not restoring the rights that the Hungarian minority in Ukraine lost in 2015, despite promises to do so. "Such a situation is unacceptable and completely contrary to European principles and values," wrote Szijjarto.

Three days ago, on March 20, Hungary — as the only European Union member country — opted not to adopt provisions for further support of Ukraine during the EU summit in Brussels. A similar stance was taken on March 6 during a previous meeting of the Community leaders.

According to the 2001 census, about 150,000 Hungarians lived in Ukraine's Transcarpathia at that time. Currently, precise data is lacking, but some estimates suggest that the Hungarian community in this region may have decreased by as much as half.