The Ambassador of Ukraine to Hungary, Fedor Shandor, revealed in an interview with RBC-Ukraine the specific timelines for implementing the agreements reached by Budapest and Kyiv in June 2026 regarding the educational, cultural, linguistic, and political rights of the Hungarian community in Zakarpattia. According to him, amendments to points 1–5 of the first part of the agreement will be incorporated into Ukrainian legislation as early as September of this year. Other issues, the diplomat estimates, should be coordinated and implemented by May 2027, with one of the points undergoing a separate, more lengthy procedure.

Implementation Calendar: September 2026 and May 2027

Shandor emphasized that the September phase covers the first part of the document — specifically points 1–5. "In September, amendments to points 1–5, the first part, will be implemented into Ukrainian legislation," the ambassador stated. Regarding the remaining part of the list, the diplomat pointed to May 2027 as the deadline by which issues 6 through 10 should be coordinated and effectively implemented into Ukraine's legal framework. Thus, this is not a one-time act, but a phased process stretching over approximately eight months.

Why the formulation "11 issues" is a simplification

Separately, Shandor warned against a simplified count. "There are sub-points within those points, and sub-sub-points within those, so they cannot be called "11 issues". Moreover, they intersect with each other," he explained. This means that the publicly discussed "list of 11 points" actually represents a nested structure with cross-references, where changing one element may affect several others. For journalists and analysts, this is important: any statements about "fulfilling N points" without accounting for sub-points may be misleading regarding the actual volume of work done.

Point 11 and representation in parliament

The most sensitive element of the agreement — the issue of representation of the Hungarian community in parliament — has been categorized separately by the diplomat. According to Shandor, point 11 has already been submitted for consideration by the relevant expert councils and is proceeding "in accordance with the corresponding procedures." This means that its fate is not directly tied to the September or May deadlines, but depends on the internal Ukrainian law-making and expert procedure, which may take additional time. It is this point that has traditionally caused the most controversy in bilateral negotiations.

Connection with Ukraine's European integration

The implementation of the agreement also has a foreign policy dimension. As the editorial office reminds, after reaching a political agreement and Ukraine's official commitments, Hungary consented to the opening of the first negotiation cluster in the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU. Thus, the fulfillment of points regarding the rights of national minorities is directly linked to the unblocking of the European integration track: a delay in implementation may slow down progress in the negotiation clusters, while timely fulfillment, conversely, consolidates the political breakthrough achieved in June.

Contradictory data

There is a nuance in the public formulations regarding the deadlines that should be taken into account. In brief summaries of the ambassador's statements, it is often heard that "all other issues" should be coordinated by May 2027. However, in Shandor's direct quote, point 11 (representation in parliament) is highlighted separately: it is not simply "by May," but has been transferred for consideration by expert councils under a separate procedure, the deadlines of which are not fixed. That is, the statement "everything by May" and the actual procedure for point 11 do not fully coincide. Furthermore, the ambassador himself contests the very term "11 issues," pointing to the nesting and intersection of points — therefore, any simplified calculations in the media may diverge from Kyiv's official position. The difference in versions concerns the wording and counting, not the fact of the agreement itself concluded in June 2026.