Today, December 11, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba personally met in Brussels with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Sijarto — for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
"Undoubtedly, the main topic was the European Councilʼs decision to open negotiations on Ukraineʼs membership in the EU. I understand that everyone is waiting for the answer: yes or no? Give it some time. I will now report to President Zelenskyi. Peter will report to his prime minister," said Minister Kuleba.
Dmytro Kuleba emphasized in his conversation with Siyarto that Ukraine and Hungary have a "common future in Europe."
Peter Sijarto said that the decision on Ukraineʼs accession to the European Union is "historic" and will affect the future of Europe, however, the European Commission has not completed the preparatory work that could guarantee Ukraine the continuation of accession negotiations.
He also added that it was a "difficult period from the point of view of bilateral relations" between Hungary and Ukraine.
"Since 2015, Ukraine has been constantly introducing rules that increasingly restricted the rights of the Hungarian national community, and this cast a shadow on bilateral relations," Sijarto said.
- Earlier, Dmytro Kuleba said that the European Union is still discussing the opening of negotiations with Ukraine. According to him, the discussions will continue "until the last minute" at the summit of EU leaders, but "the general mood and general signal is an unprecedented level of support for the opening of negotiations on Ukraineʼs membership in the EU." Dmytro Kuleba added that the partners are impressed with how Ukraine has implemented all the recommendations within a month.
- On November 8, the European Commission recommended starting negotiations with Ukraine on joining the EU. Now the commissionʼs conclusion must be approved by the member states when EU leaders meet on December 14-15 at the summit. If they officially give the green light to the negotiations, the blocʼs executive body will begin technical work on preparing the accession process.