Hungary maintains its refusal to supply weapons or military equipment to Ukraine. The statement was made by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who also made support for Kyiv’s accession to the European Union conditional on firm guarantees regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, IPN reports.

Péter Magyar reaffirmed this position following a meeting in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The discussions between the two focused on preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara in July. In a social media post, Magyar gave assurances that Budapest would once again become a reliable partner within the military bloc, but said it would not provide military support to Kyiv.

As regards Ukraine’s European path, the Hungarian prime minister said he would support the opening of negotiation clusters for accession, provided that an agreement is reached on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia.

Budapest has long accused Kyiv of restricting the language and education rights of the more than 100,000 ethnic Hungarians living in western Ukraine. Hungary’s previous government, led by Viktor Orbán, cited this issue to maintain its veto in the EU Council on the opening of negotiation clusters for Ukraine’s accession.

Although Magyar acknowledged that Ukraine is the victim of Russian aggression and has the right to defend its territorial integrity, his government maintains a number of restrictions. In addition to refusing to supply weapons, Hungary has recently reintroduced bans on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, including grain, meat, eggs and honey.