Hungary will continue to block the opening of further chapters in Ukraine’s EU accession talks until Kyiv implements an agreement on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia reached in June, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anita Orban said on September 3, according to state news agency MTI. Budapest is making further progress in the accession talks conditional on Kyiv translating the bilateral agreement into legislation.

Orban said the Ukrainian government had already drafted the legislation required under a June agreement on minority rights, but that the bills still need to pass through Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

"What we expect is the implementation of the minority agreement negotiated in June, which means that the Rada must adopt [the measures]," Orban said at a cultural diplomacy conference.

The issue of minority rights is particularly important because Transcarpathia, Ukraine’s westernmost region bordering Hungary, is home to a longstanding Hungarian ethnic minority.

Ukraine has different deadlines for implementing measures concerning its Hungarian minority. The education provisions are due by December 2026, while legislation intended to improve the political participation of the Hungarian minority is expected in 2027. Orban said the relevant draft laws were currently circulating between Ukrainian ministries and could reach parliament in the near future.

Anita Orban also rejected any suggestion that Hungary could support a fast-track Ukrainian accession process. She said Budapest’s position remained unchanged: Hungary would not support accelerated membership, and Budapest would hold a referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership once Kyiv completes the talks, a move that was also part of the party’s election programme. In the election campaign, Viktor Orban’s Fidesz accused the Tisza Party of serving the interests of the EU and Ukraine.

The comments came after Hungary again withheld its support for opening the second and third negotiating clusters in Ukraine’s EU accession process, which cover areas such as the internal market, competitiveness, and growth. The opening of the chapters requires the agreement of all EU member states.

Hungary has now blocked further progress on Ukraine’s accession talks for the third time, according to Ukrainian diplomatic sources cited by Hvg.hu. They said the latest veto was unjustified. Kyiv argues that it has made a series of concessions to improve bilateral relations and has met the conditions necessary for progress in the accession process.

Among the measures cited by Ukrainian sources is a recent regulation allowing a Hungarian-language school class to be established even when there is only one Hungarian-speaking pupil, which Kyiv presents as evidence of progress on minority education rights.

The Ukrainian sources also pointed to a broader improvement in relations since the change of government in Budapest. They cited Hungary’s approval of an €90bn EU support package, backing for two additional sanctions packages against Russia and the resolution of "gold convoy" dispute as signs that bilateral ties have improved.

One Ukrainian diplomatic source rated the new Hungarian government’s cooperation at "100%" if the accession clusters were excluded, but only two out of six, or 33%, when the blocked clusters were taken into account.

The sources said Kyiv expected Magyar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet in September, potentially in Budapest or Kyiv, with a joint visit to Berehove in Transcarpathia also being discussed.

Ukraine’s parliament on September 3 voted unanimously (261-0) to recognise as a crime the Soviet repression of the Hungarian population of Transcarpathia. The declaration, initiated by Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary, Sandor Fegyir, concerns mass arrests and deportations of Hungarian and German civilians following the Soviet takeover of Transcarpathia in 1944.

Thousands of civilian men were sent to Soviet labour and concentration camps in what became known as "malenkiy robot", after being told they were being mobilised for only a few days of reparations work.

The move could provide Kyiv with another gesture aimed at addressing historical grievances that have long complicated relations with Budapest, although the immediate dispute over minority rights and Ukraine’s EU accession remains unresolved, analysts said.

At his press briefing on September 3, Magyar announced that Hungary would continue granting temporary protection to Ukrainian men of military age fleeing the war, despite an EU decision to end such protection for that category. An increasing number of such refugees are ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia, he noted. Magyar told reporters he had raised his objection with several EU leaders and the European Council President, António Costa, on September 2, arguing that the EU decision was inappropriate.