Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha declared on 4 June that Kyiv and Budapest were turning a new page in bilateral ties, hours after the Cyprus EU Council presidency began the formal procedure to open Ukraine's first accession negotiation cluster.
"We are opening a new page in relations between Ukraine and Hungary—a page founded on mutual respect, trust, and our shared European future," Sybiha wrote on X in remarks . The minister credited Hungary's "constructive engagement" and thanked the Cyprus presidency for its leadership in advancing Ukraine's EU accession path, alongside member states, the European Commission, and EU institutions.
Cyprus launches the formal procedure
The Cyprus presidency announced earlier on 4 June that it had initiated preparations for the formal opening of Cluster 1 in accession negotiations with both Ukraine and Moldova, posting on X that the step marked a significant milestone in their European integration path and sent a strong message of EU unity and determination.
The opening of the first cluster, known as "Fundamentals," is scheduled for 15 June on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, European Pravda reports. The cluster covers rule of law, human rights, the judiciary, and democratic institutions, and is both the first and last cluster opened in any EU accession process.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko confirmed on X that all 27 EU members had agreed to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova on the first cluster, calling the development "fantastic news."
Hungary's reversal ends a two-year blockade
The procedural breakthrough follows dramatic shifts in Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on 3 June that the two countries had reached an agreement on the rights of the Hungarian-speaking minority in Ukraine—the chief condition Budapest had attached to lifting its veto.
For more than a year, Hungary under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban had blocked the start of substantive accession negotiations, citing 11 demands tied to ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattia. Orban's Fidesz party lost Hungary's April 2026 parliamentary election to Magyar's Tisza party, and the new government has rapidly recalibrated Budapest's stance toward Kyiv.
Magyar's cabinet has also lifted Hungary's separate two-year veto on EU arms reimbursements under the European Peace Facility, unblocking €6.6 billion in delayed funding earmarked for Ukraine's defense procurement.
Build-up over six weeks
Sybiha had signaled openness to a reset since shortly after the Hungarian election. The Ukrainian foreign minister and Hungarian counterpart Anita Orban held their first in-person meeting on 22 May in Helsingborg on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting in Sweden, agreeing to continue expert-level consultations on minority rights.
EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos welcomed Magyar's 3 June announcement as opening the way for progress on Ukraine's accession path.
