Negotiating clusters on Ukraine's accession to the European Union may begin work after the parliamentary elections in Hungary in April 2026. This is reported by Deutsche Welle with reference to a high-ranking EU official, reports UNN.
Details
On Friday, September 26, a high-ranking EU official, on condition of anonymity, told DW that despite Kyiv having fulfilled all the prerequisites for starting negotiations, it is Hungary that is blocking the opening of the first negotiating cluster.
There are currently no ways to overcome Hungary's veto
According to the EU official, the decision to start negotiating clusters with a candidate country is made only unanimously.
It is noted that the EU did indeed discuss the idea of moving to qualified majority voting, but it remained "at the level of talks."
According to the DW source, the only "practical way out" in the current situation is to complete all technical work in advance so that after Orban's departure, the negotiation process with Ukraine can be launched promptly.
Another representative of European institutions confirmed that EU member states tried to find legal mechanisms to circumvent the Hungarian veto. Discussions on this matter were held both in the European Commission and in the Council of the EU, but they did not yield results, so the situation remains difficult for now.
It turned out that the enlargement negotiations are still about a political decision, although we repeat that this is a process based on the merits of the candidate country
He added that Ukraine has fulfilled all the requirements for opening the first negotiating cluster.
The official also confirmed the final session with Ukraine on screening – assessing the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU norms – on September 29.
After that, before the opening of the first cluster, several intermediate technical steps were to take place, which would have taken about a week.
"If it weren't for Hungary's veto, we could have started opening the first and subsequent clusters very quickly," the interlocutor of the publication concluded.
Recall
President Zelensky stated that Ukraine fulfills all EU recommendations, so he sees no grounds for claims from Hungary. He is ready for dialogue and a meeting with Prime Minister Orban to discuss all issues.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated that Ukraine's accession to the EU would destroy Hungarian farmers and undermine food security. Budapest will block the opening of the first cluster of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union.