Ukraine may start EU accession talks as early as June 15 — what is known
Ukraine and Moldova may take an important step towards membership in the European Union in the coming days. As Politico reports, citing four diplomats, Hungary has signaled its readiness to abandon its years-long blockade of the start of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.
According to sources, the opening of the first negotiation cluster — one of the formal stages of the EU accession process — is planned to be discussed during the intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg on June 15.
Since Ukraine and Moldova submitted their EU membership applications simultaneously, the progress of Moldova's application directly depends on Ukraine's progress. Therefore, unblocking the negotiation process for Kyiv will automatically open the way for Chișinău, the publication notes.
Hungarian leadership, according to diplomats, has privately expressed readiness to reconsider its position after consultations between Ukrainian and Hungarian experts regarding the protection of the Hungarian minority's rights in Ukraine.
At the same time, an official Hungarian representative stated that no final decision has been made yet. According to him, negotiations are ongoing, and no final agreement has been reached so far.
According to Politico's interlocutors, the process accelerated after Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar visit to Brussels, where he held talks with EU leadership, including on unblocking €16.4 billion of frozen European funds for Hungary.
It is expected that by the end of this week, EU member states' ambassadors will agree on a common position regarding the opening of the first negotiation cluster for Ukraine and Moldova. Before that, Kyiv must present plans for internal reforms and additional steps in the field of protecting the rights of national minorities.
The final decision may be made during the intergovernmental conference on June 15.
Unanimous support from all 27 EU member states is required to open negotiation clusters. Any EU country has the right to block the process at any stage of accession negotiations.
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