Sweden calls for clarity on Ukraine's EU accession after Hungary's veto threat
Photo: Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs Jessica Rosencrantz (facebook.com/jessica.rosencrantz)
Sweden has approached the European Commission for proposals on advancing Ukraine’s EU accession. This came after Hungary threatened to veto Ukraine’s membership, reports Ukraine’s embassy in Sweden.
“Hungary should not slow down the negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership,” the embassy emphasized.
According to them, Sweden’s Minister for EU Affairs, Jessica Rosencrantz, along with her colleagues from the Nordic-Baltic countries, reached out to the European Commission, asking for specific proposals to advance Ukraine’s EU accession process.
As a reminder, yesterday, Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, made a statement about Hungary’s intentions to block Ukraine’s EU membership.
In his statement, he again raised the issue of the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.
Notably, as early as last summer, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Hungary supported the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership because Kyiv "satisfied Budapest’s demands."
Minority Issues
Relations between Ukraine and Hungary became strained back in 2017 when the Ukrainian Parliament passed the education law, which stipulates that the state language must be used in educational institutions. However, according to the educational program, one or more subjects can be taught in two or more languages.
This, in turn, repeatedly sparked outrage from Hungary, which accused Ukraine of creating problems for national minorities in Transcarpathia. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán frequently made absurd statements.
However, on December 8, 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a number of bills, including Bill No. 10288-1, which aimed at protecting the rights of national minorities in specific areas, taking into account the recommendations of the Council of Europe.
At the same time, Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it was dissatisfied with the amendments to Ukraine’s law on national minorities. They claimed that the rights of minorities had "a long way to go" before being restored to the level in 2015.
In response, Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that Ukraine had reached an agreement with Hungary to create a joint special commission to address issues related to the Hungarian national community in the Transcarpathian region.
