Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted the inaugural summit of the Carpathian Eight (C8) at the Bukovel resort in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast on Sep. 18, hoping to attract EUR 9.4 billion in regional investment. Although Zelensky listed Hungary among the forum’s eight members, alongside Ukraine, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia, Magyar said Hungary had never agreed to join the grouping.
The Hungarian PM later wrote on X that naming a sovereign country as an organization member without its consent was “completely unacceptable,” likening Kyiv’s move to a local football club enrolling a player without asking him. “We don’t know each other, but you are in it, and you have to bring the ball,” he wrote.
A Hungarian diplomat told Euronews that Budapest had made clear in advance that Magyar would not participate, despite repeated Ukrainian invitations. The representative who did attend the summit, a junior diplomat, did not sign the closing statement, as Hungary regarded its envoy as an observer rather than a signatory.
Asked about the accession deadlock, Zelenskyy said Hungary was waiting for the Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament) to adopt the minority rights legislation agreed in June, which his government is now drafting, and expressed hope that Kyiv could open two more clusters before October. “I don’t see a real big problem with this between us,” Zelenskyy added.
The following day, Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with MOL to develop fuel storage facilities in Hungary near the Ukrainian border, out of reach of Russian strikes. Former governing party Fidesz, now in opposition, accused Magyar of placing Ukraine’s interests above those of Hungary and endangering national security.
Magyar, who had not been informed of the agreement in advance, told parliament on Sep. 21, “Under my government, no such storage will be built at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border, or anywhere else.” He also told MOL to treat the state, which holds a 25% stake, as an owner to be consulted. “We’ll see what the consequences of this will be,” Magyar said.
MOL later told Euronews that the memorandum was non-binding and that any further steps would require government support. “No decision has been made, and MOL fully understands the standpoint of the Hungarian government,” spokesperson Ambrus Halász said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to Magyar’s remarks on X that evening, calling them needlessly confrontational.
“It seems that while Viktor Orbán is gone, his policies of obstructionism and isolationism continue to thrive,” he wrote, before adding that Kyiv remained open to “mutually beneficial, pragmatic and respectful bilateral cooperation with Hungary.” Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later told Euronews that comparisons with the previous government’s policies were neither accurate nor helpful.
Anita Orbán, who is deputy prime minister as well as foreign minister, met Sybiha several times during the UN General Assembly’s high-level week in New York. Hungary was among 51 countries whose joint statement, read on Sep. 23 by Sybiha alongside EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot, expressed solidarity with Ukraine and called on Russia to accept a ceasefire.
Speaking to news outlet Index from New York on Sep. 24, Anita Orbán said the two sides had settled the misunderstandings over the C8 and said that the minority rights bill could go before the Rada in October; she did not rule out Hungary joining the forum at a later stage.
“We are happy to take part in any regional or bilateral cooperation that serves Hungary’s interests,” she said, adding that such steps required prior dialogue and preparation.
She also noted that Moscow had yet to deliver the retaliation it promised after Hungary expelled 10 Russian diplomats on Sep. 8. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeated her account on Sep. 25, noting that she remains in daily contact with Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration on the rights of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community.
Meanwhile, that minister, Vsevolod Chentsov, briefed the Council of the EU’s Working Party on Enlargement (COELA) on Sep. 22 on Ukraine’s progress in meeting its accession commitments. When COELA returned to the screening results for clusters 2 and 3 on Sep. 29, Hungary again withheld approval, as it had on July 17 and 22, and on Sep. 1 and 8, leaving Moldova’s progress on hold as well, since most member states have refused to separate the two candidates.
“Member states’ positions have not changed,” an EU source told European Pravda.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of October 2, 2026.
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