Magyar indicated that Hungary’s change in stance depends on Ukraine making “concrete steps,” though he did not specify what those steps entail.
“We are ready to continue, but we expect meaningful actions from the Ukrainian side, otherwise the current encouragement will remain just another unfulfilled promise—and over the past decade, we’ve heard so many that they could dam rivers larger than the Danube,” he wrote.
Kachka pledged to personally engage in bilateral efforts aimed at “jointly resolving contentious issues,” Magyar added.
Reports earlier indicated that U.S. President Donald Trump persuaded Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to reconsider his opposition to Ukraine’s EU membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had urged Trump to influence Orban to stop blocking Ukraine’s path to the European Union.
On Aug. 12, 26 EU member state leaders approved a joint statement supporting Ukraine ahead of a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Orban, as is customary, did not sign the document, arguing that it attempted to set conditions for a meeting to which EU leaders were not invited.
“The fact that the EU has been sidelined is already sad enough. The only thing that could make it worse is if we start giving instructions from the sidelines,” Orban said.
Zelenskyy has stated that Hungary is the only country blocking Ukraine’s EU membership. Bloomberg reported that the bloc is exploring ways to prevent Budapest from obstructing the start of Ukraine’s accession talks.
On July 23, news outlet European Pravda reported that the EU was in the final stages of preparing to open the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine despite Hungary’s resistance, but the decision was postponed. The plan was to open the cluster on July 18 without a vote during an EU General Affairs Council meeting.
However, unexpected developments raised concerns in European circles, including Ukraine’s government violating its Economic Security Bureau law by rejecting a candidate selected through an EU-supported transparent process and conducting searches at the home of Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the NGO Anti-Corruption Action Center, without proper judicial authorization.
Consequently, Denmark excluded the opening of the first negotiation cluster from the July 18 meeting agenda.