Hungary is conditioning its support for Ukraine's membership on laws protecting minority rights.
According to Foreign Minister Anita Orbán, Kiev is already working on the required changes.
According to reports in the Ukrainian press, once again no progress has been made in Ukraine's EU accession process, after Hungarian diplomats refused to support the opening of new groups in Tuesday's negotiations. Group 2 contains rules related to the EU's internal market, while group 3 deals with competition regulations.
Hungary did not exercise the same veto on Moldova, whose accession is being dealt with together with Ukraine, paving the way for the opening of Group 3 in this regard. However, the other member states do not want to change their previous decision that the EU accession processes of Ukraine and Moldova should move forward in parallel.
The Hungarian government is linking any further progress in Ukraine's EU accession process to the promised resolution of the rights of Hungarian minorities in Ukraine. The government in Budapest made this clear last week, when it voted again against the issue.
The Ukrainian and Hungarian governments held talks over the summer on the rights of the Hungarian minority, and Kiev undertook to guarantee the educational, cultural and linguistic rights of the Hungarian-speaking population living in Ukraine.
The Hungarian government's expectations in this regard have also been supported by EU leaders.
According to a statement on Monday by Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orbán, progress has been made on this front as well. Work has begun on preparing new legislation on education.
In June, the Hungarian government did not block the opening of Group 6, which is related to foreign relations, in the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU.
