Ukraine and Hungary hold 'constructive' talks before EU summit on aid package

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine and Hungary said they had laid the ground for a meeting of their leaders during talks in western Ukraine on Monday and agreed to work together on the divisive issue of Hungarian minority rights in Ukraine.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak, days before an EU summit that will seek agreement on an aid package for Kyiv that has been held up by Budapest.

"Encouraging steps have been taken towards restoring the climate of trust between Hungary and Ukraine, but there is still a long way to go and a lot of work will be needed, which our country is ready to do," Szijjarto told reporters after the talks in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.

Budapest has long criticised Kyiv for what it says are curbs on the rights of ethnic Hungarians, particularly with regard to native-language schooling, an issue it used to oppose the opening of Kyiv's EU accession talks last year.

Kuleba described the talks as frank and constructive. He said the parties had agreed to establish a special commission on the issue to work out within 10 days what the next steps should be.

Ukraine has said it hopes the EU's 27 member states will agree at the summit in Brussels on Thursday to provide the 50 billion euros ($54 billion) package that Kyiv plans to use to plug its budget deficit this year as it battles Russian forces.

No progress was reported on Hungary's stance on the aid package at the Uzhhorod talks, however. Szijjarto said it was not a bilateral issue and would be discussed in Brussels.

Budapest is the only EU state that did not back the package at a summit in December. Orban's political director said earlier on Monday that Budapest was open to using the EU budget for a proposed aid if other "caveats" were added.

MINORITY RIGHTS

Ukraine passed a law in 2017 that required all schools to teach students over the age of 10 in the Ukrainian language. Hungary saw it as a breach of the Hungarian minority's rights.

Some changes were made in December 2023 when the issue became critical for Kyiv's EU accession talks. Budapest said the changes were an improvement but didn't go far enough.

Szijjarto said Hungary's demands include the restoration of national minority schools status and unrestricted use of Hungarian in higher education, culture and community life.

Yermak said steps had been taken towards agreeing a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, though no date was set. Kyiv officials have said they expect Orban to come to Ukraine, which would be his first visit during Russia's full-scale invasion.

Orban's government has strained relations with Kyiv and has maintained better ties with Moscow than other EU states since Russia's invasion nearly two years ago.

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(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Yuliia Dysa, Gyori Boldizsar; editing by Timothy Heritage and Ros Russell)