On Tuesday, Hungary delayed a key procedural step that is needed to advance the accession process of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU. Citing two EU diplomats, Politico magazine reported on this.
According to EU officials, Hungary was the only country that did not agree to send the letter to the European Council and the European Commission, which should have been issued on behalf of all 27 member states and contain a joint position on the accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. This step required the unanimous consent of all EU countries. The proposal will be discussed again next week, diplomats said.
In mid-June, EU member states unanimously approved the opening of the first of six negotiation clusters for Ukraine and Moldova. This step was blocked for a long time by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who opposed Ukraine’s EU membership.
Orbán’s successor, Péter Magyar, announced after taking office that Budapest had reached an agreement with Kyiv to strengthen the rights of ethnic Hungarians living on the territory of Ukraine, thanks to which Hungary withdrew its veto.
Ukraine and Moldova, whose bids to join the EU are politically linked, now hope that the process of joining the Union will proceed quickly. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kačka said that Kyiv aims to open all six clusters by mid-July.
According to Politico, however, this plan of Ukraine is in jeopardy after Hungary blocked the sending of the letter. The magazine said Budapest’s move is in line with Magyar’s reserved stance on Ukraine’s EU membership.
According to one of the quoted diplomats, Magyar was not against the opening of the first cluster with Ukraine, but his government insisted that the term “as soon as possible” be deleted from the conclusions of last week’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels in connection with Kyiv’s EU membership.
At the press conference after the summit, the Hungarian Prime Minister expressed his belief that, in his government’s opinion, it would not be good if all six negotiation clusters were opened at once. As one argued, it could send the wrong signal to the countries of the Western Balkans, which have been seeking EU membership for years.
