By Andreas Rinke and Anita Komuves
BERLIN/BUDAPEST, June 2 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Tuesday he was ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy next week to open a new chapter in relations after ousting Moscow-friendly predecessor Viktor Orban in an election.
Visiting Berlin, Magyar said he was ready to meet Zelenskiy if technical negotiations on the rights of the Hungarian minority in neighbouring Ukraine were finished this week, and that he was optimistic the issue could be solved.
Warmer relations between Hungary and Ukraine are pivotal for the European Union's backing for Kyiv in Russia's war in Ukraine, with Orban having opposed the flow of billions of euros in aid to Ukraine and its EU membership.
"So far, the negotiations are progressing very encouragingly, and we hope that they may even be concluded at the technical level this week," Magyar, who was alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said about minority rights.
"And here in Berlin, I can repeat that I am ready to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sometime early next week, provided we do indeed reach an agreement on these fundamental human rights."
HUNGARY BUILDS TIES WITH EU STATES
Magyar was in Berlin on a trip that will also take him to Paris on Wednesday as his government looks to build ties with other EU countries after fractious relations under Orban.
Since taking office after April's election, Magyar has secured agreement to unlock €16.4 billion of EU recovery and cohesion funds that were frozen under Orban, vowing to push ahead with anti-corruption reforms.
Magyar's election win also paved the way for €90 billion of EU funds to flow to Ukraine. Orban had opposed transferring the funds in a dispute over energy supplies.
While Magyar takes a less confrontational approach to Kyiv, he says progress on the rights of 150,000 ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine to use their native tongue is essential if Budapest is to agree to Ukraine joining the EU.
In May, Merz pushed an initiative to give Ukraine "associate" EU membership as a first step, a proposal Zelenskiy saw as unfair because it would leave Kyiv without a voice in the bloc.
"We understand that Budapest wants to clarify bilateral issues first, such as the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine," Merz said. "However, this must not be at the expense of European support, nor should it deter us from our goal of formally opening the accession negotiations with Ukraine now with the first chapter."
Merz hailed a new start in relations under Magyar following Orban's 16-year rule, saying: "Democracy and the rule of law in Hungary are strong again. We trust him to lead Hungary back to the heart of Europe."
"Peter Magyar has proven that the pendulum doesn't just swing in one direction — towards the illiberal or even authoritarian. It can also swing back, impressively, to the centre."
Magyar visited Poland in May, then Austria. After visiting Germany and France, he will host the Irish prime minister in Budapest this week.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Anita Komuves; Writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
