The European Council noted the progress of technical work on opening negotiation clusters for Ukraine's accession to the EU and called for their immediate opening, starting with the fundamentals cluster, according to a statement by 25 bloc leaders at a summit on Thursday, amid resistance from Hungary and Slovakia, writes UNN.
The future of Ukraine and its citizens lies within the European Union. The European Council welcomes the significant progress made by Ukraine under the most difficult circumstances and calls for further necessary reforms. In accordance with the European Commission's assessment and taking into account that technical work on opening all clusters in the EU Council has progressed, the European Council calls on the EU Council to immediately open the clusters, starting with the fundamentals cluster, in accordance with the enlargement methodology and in line with a merit-based approach.
Supplement
On March 17, the EU unofficially opened all six negotiation clusters in Ukraine's accession process.
On that day, Ukraine received the conditions for joining the EU for the final three clusters and now has a full package of conditions, the fulfillment of which is necessary for joining the bloc.
In December 2025, the EU announced the approval of a new approach to Ukraine's EU accession negotiations - a technical one - to advance the process despite Hungary's veto.
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