Hungary not part of Ukraine's Carpathian initiative, Magyar says
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Editor's note: The story has been updated with the latest details.
Hungary is not participating in the Carpathian 8 initiative, despite receiving an invitation from Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said, as reported by the Telex news outlet on Sept. 21.
Speaking to the Hungarian parliament, Magyar said, "We had a good reason not to go."
President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted the inaugural Carpathian 8 Summit over the weekend in Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, a new forum intended to bolster economic cooperation in the region.
The summit was attended by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Romanian President Nicusor Dan, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, as well as representatives from Czechia, Austria, and Slovakia.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry told Telex that Hungary was represented by the head of the Hungarian Embassy in Kyiv.
The Hungarian representative did not appear in the group photo or take part in opening speeches or panel debates, according to a Kyiv Independent journalist reporting from the summit.
"It's enough that I am the Hungarian prime minister, and if I don't know about this, then believe me, Hungary is not taking part in this (forum)," Magyar said. "If Hungary ever does take part in this, we will announce it."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sept. 21 that Ukraine was surprised by what he called Hungary’s confrontational rejection of the Carpathian Integration Initiative and its criticism of cooperation between Ukrainian and Hungarian energy companies.
He added that Budapest’s recent statements suggested that Viktor Orbán’s “policies of obstructionism and isolationism” were continuing even in his absence.
Relations between Ukraine and its EU neighbor, Hungary, saw a partial thaw after Magyar took office in May, replacing Kremlin-friendly former Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
While Magyar has ruled out providing military aid to Ukraine or accelerating Kyiv's EU accession bid, he has signaled interest in resetting mutual ties and pursuing a more constructive relationship with Hungary's war-torn neighbor.
Nevertheless, relations continue to hit obstacles as Budapest renewed its blockade of Ukraine's EU accession talks over the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
A potential meeting between Zelensky and Magyar to open a new chapter in ties has been floated since spring, but no date has been set so far.
"The president is ready to meet; it's Mr. Magyar's side where things just keep not working out," Zelensky's advisor Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists, adding that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is in contact with the Hungarian side.
