Hungary announced at a meeting of the EU Political and Security Committee on June 2 that Budapest was lifting its blockade of the European Peace Facility, the off-budget EU mechanism that reimburses member states for roughly 40% of the value of weapons transferred to Ukraine from their own stockpiles.
The previous government had blocked the mechanism for two years as part of its broader opposition to EU arms deliveries for Ukraine. That policy had generated a backlog of more than EUR 40 billion in pending reimbursements and strained relations with major donor states, particularly Germany and the Netherlands.
Magyar’s decision immediately freed EUR 6.6 billion in approved reimbursements, the first tranche of that backlog. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on EU governments to direct the released funds toward Patriot air defense systems under NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List program. Magyar also told reporters on June 2 that technical talks with Kyiv on minority rights could conclude that week and that he stood ready to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once an agreement was reached.
The following day, June 3, Magyar confirmed the success of the bilateral talks with Kyiv in a Facebook video. “We have reached a comprehensive agreement with Ukraine on the expansion of the linguistic, educational, cultural and political rights of the 100,000-strong Hungarian minority,” he said.
The deal addressed the two remaining demands from Budapest’s 11-point list: parliamentary representation for the Hungarian minority and amendments to Ukraine’s “cultural autonomy” provisions. Ukraine did not immediately confirm the content of the deal.
Magyar also drew a contrast with his predecessor’s record. “In just three weeks, we have achieved what Viktor Orbán and his government failed to achieve in 10 years,” he wrote on X.
That said, Magyar noted that Hungary would not support a fast-track accession procedure. However, if Ukraine closed all 33 accession chapters within 10 to 15 years, he said Hungary would hold a legally binding referendum on Kyiv’s EU membership.
Regardless, EU ambassadors moved the same day to initiate the procedure to open the first of six accession negotiating clusters, thematic groupings of policy reforms that candidate countries must align with EU law before membership can proceed. Hungary’s change of position prompted a last-minute revision to the agenda at the Brussels meeting, allowing all 27 member states to take a procedural step that the previous Hungarian government had blocked.
Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos (a Slovenian diplomat and former journalist, in post since December 2024) welcomed the announcement. “Ukraine and Moldova are already now delivering on rule of law requirements set by member states,” she said. “It is now time to accelerate on their road to EU membership.”
On June 12, Magyar confirmed on X that the formalization of the minority talks agreement was complete. “The Ukrainian side has committed itself to implementing all provisions of the agreement and has also incorporated them into the EU Minority Action Plan,” he wrote. The move embedded Ukraine’s minority rights commitments in its accession process and placed them under EU oversight.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the same day that all 27 EU member states had agreed to convene in Luxembourg on June 15. “We will open the cluster on fundamentals; the backbone of the accession process,” she said. “It covers the core values and principles on which the EU is built, from the rule of law to strong democratic institutions.”
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka described the announcement as “another milestone on Ukraine’s path to the EU” and said Kyiv expected the remaining clusters to follow shortly. Zelenskyy welcomed the news. “Ukraine is defending itself and, in doing so, all of Europe,” he said.
The Intergovernmental Conference consequently convened in Luxembourg on June 15, chaired by Cyprus Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, with Ukraine represented by Kachka. He assured member states that Kyiv would implement accession conditions and the body of EU law as it currently stands. The conference formally opened the “Fundamentals” cluster, covering the rule of law, anti-corruption, and democratic institutions.
Kachka said Ukraine’s integration process had become “irreversible” with the endpoint defined as the signing of the Treaty of Accession to the EU. He told the conference that Ukraine could close most negotiating chapters within 12 to 18 months and proceed to sign an accession agreement. In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy said progress toward European integration “cannot be stopped.”
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of June 19, 2026.
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