Hungary declines to join Ukraine's Carpathian Eight

Hungary said Tuesday it had not joined Ukraine's Carpathian Eight regional cooperation initiative, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying representatives from seven regional countries, including Hungary, took part in its first summit.

Hungary's foreign ministry said the country was “not a member” of the initiative but was monitoring its establishment. It said Adam Cegledi, acting charge d'affaires at Hungary's embassy in Kyiv, observed the event on site and that Hungary did not sign the declaration adopted at the forum.

Zelensky opened the first Carpathian Summit in western Ukraine on Friday. He has described the grouping as focused on economic cooperation and security.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar told Hungary's parliament: “We were invited, but we didn't go, and for good reason.” His government has not publicly given a reason for staying out of the group.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Kyiv was surprised by what he called Magyar's “unnecessarily confrontational statements toward Ukraine” and said Hungary's reasons remained unknown. Marton Hajdu, a senior politician from Hungary's ruling party, responded that Hungary had done “a lot of heavy lifting already” to improve relations and that it was now Ukraine's turn to deliver.

Kyiv and Budapest have been trying to improve ties since Magyar took office in May after Viktor Orban's Russia-friendly government. The two countries have long disagreed over the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Ukraine, and Hungary has accused Ukraine of failing to implement a June agreement on the issue.