Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Péter Magyar held their first bilateral talks in Brussels

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar held their first bilateral talks in Brussels on the sidelines of the European Union’s two-day summit. The meeting aims to open a “new chapter” in relations between Ukraine and Hungary, which have been affected in recent years by disputes over the rights of Ukraine’s Hungarian minority.

The talks took place as Kyiv seeks European support amid deteriorating relations with the United States. After the meeting, Magyar said that the Ukrainian Parliament’s adoption of the law on the education of national minorities, and the start of its implementation, represented a first step toward rebuilding mutual trust.

The two leaders agreed to continue dialogue at ministerial level, focusing on the situation of national minorities. The Hungarian prime minister also said that both countries wanted to build a new foundation for political and economic relations and expressed solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.

The law promulgated by Zelensky gives minorities that speak European Union languages, including Ukraine’s Hungarian community, greater freedom to use their mother tongue in education. Following the adoption of the legislation, Hungary withdrew its veto on opening two new negotiating clusters for Ukraine’s accession to the EU, officially launched on October 13.

Approximately 80,000 ethnic Hungarians live in the Transcarpathia region. Magyar proposed that the next meeting with Zelensky take place in Berehove, but no date has been set. The two also held brief talks in Brussels in June and at the NATO summit in Ankara in July.