Hungary is unlikely to lift the veto on Ukraine before the EU summit on June 18 0 9

Budapest's position on key policy areas has remained unchanged after the change of leadership in the country, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Szijjarto stated at a meeting with diplomats. This was reported by Euractiv, citing sources. In particular, Mr. Szijjarto intends to advocate for the rights of Hungarians in the Transcarpathia region of Ukraine.

Furthermore, Peter Szijjarto has maintained the previous leadership's stance on the issue of illegal migration and European competitiveness. The Prime Minister assured diplomats that no radical changes are planned within the structure of the diplomatic corps.

Hungarian authorities have stated that they will not support Ukraine's accession to the European Union unless the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia improve. Earlier, Peter Szijjarto announced the start of technical negotiations with Ukraine regarding the provision of language and cultural rights for the Hungarian minority.

After Kyiv resumed the transit of Russian oil to Hungary and Budapest, in response, lifted the blockade on a €90 billion loan to Ukraine and the veto on the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, the parties approached the most sensitive issue — Ukraine's accession to the EU.

However, Ukraine is being asked to amend its legislation to designate the entire Transcarpathia region as a territory of "traditional habitation of Hungarians," although in reality, the Hungarian national minority is settled in a smaller area.

Budapest demands the complete repeal of educational reforms introduced by Ukraine after 2015. This means that schools will again be able to conduct the educational process entirely in Hungarian, which contradicts Kyiv's position that knowledge of Ukrainian is the key to the successful integration of national minorities.

Budapest insists on allocating a quota for the Hungarian national minority in the Verkhovna Rada. Such a move would automatically lead to demands for similar quotas for other minorities, including Poles, Bulgarians, and Romanians, which would significantly alter the political landscape of the country.

Even if the parties manage to make progress on these issues in record time, it will be extremely difficult to lift the Hungarian veto before the summit on June 18–19. The first cluster of negotiations, which Budapest has blocked for years, involves a number of steps from Kyiv. Ukraine, together with the European Commission, needed to conduct a full screening of legislation to create a clear map of discrepancies between Ukrainian and European laws and outline which legislative norms would need to be adjusted to meet EU standards.