海角大神

Like a family, the European Union has had a fair share of black sheep among its members. Britain left the union. Poland long thumbed its nose at EU standards for the rule of law. Greece lied about its deficit and almost sank the bloc鈥檚 economy.

On Wednesday, Hungary 鈥� after years of being on the outs with the EU 鈥� returned to the fold like a prodigal son.

A new prime minister of the Central European nation, P茅ter Magyar, strongly signaled that he would permit Ukraine to start formal talks to join the EU. He said Kyiv had agreed to new cultural, educational, and political protections for tens of thousands of ethnic Hungarians living in Ukraine鈥檚 western Zakarpattia region.

Ukraine鈥檚 talks with the EU are now slated to begin in mid-June, more than four years after it applied to be an official candidate following the 2022 Russian invasion.

Mr. Magyar鈥檚 tentative support of Ukraine鈥檚 membership reverses a veto on such negotiations by his predecessor, Viktor Orb谩n. That longtime authoritarian leader had used the issue of the minority Hungarians to stall Kyiv鈥檚 bid. His party lost big in an April election as Hungarians shifted back toward European values.

Along with its recent battlefield successes, Ukraine might now gain a stronger political shield against Russian aggression. Hungary鈥檚 decision 鈥渂rings us closer to our joint European future,鈥� said Taras Kachka, Ukraine鈥檚 deputy prime minister for European integration, according to Euronews.

During his election campaign, Mr. Magyar said that European leaders had viewed Hungary as an 鈥渦nnecessary troublemaker,鈥� more aligned with Moscow than with Brussels. Next week, he plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The two leaders will have one common interest: embracing the EU鈥檚 hope that the continent does not once again allow ethnic differences to start wars.