Ukraine, EU aim to start membership talks in June, before Hungary's presidency - Politico
Kyiv • UNN
Brussels officials are looking to start formal EU accession talks with Ukraine as early as June 25, before Hungary takes over the EU Council presidency on July 1, amid intense diplomacy to convince Budapest to approve a framework for negotiations.
Brussels officials are pushing to start official talks on Ukraine's accession to the European Union as early as next month, citing people familiar with the matter, Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
Behind the scenes, EU and Ukrainian diplomats are reportedly "working intensively to persuade the Hungarian government to give its consent to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession.
"The five diplomats... said the goal is to start formal talks as early as June 25," the newspaper reports.
According to the diplomats, "Brussels and Kyiv are conducting intensive bilateral diplomacy with Budapest to solve the problems of Hungarian minorities in Ukraine.
One EU diplomat suggested that Hungary might want to take the issue of Ukraine's accession talks off the table before it takes over the six-month rotating EU Council presidency in July. "There was a feeling that it should not be done before the [June 9 European Parliament] elections because it could become an election issue," the EU diplomat said, "capturing the sentiment of many officials in Brussels.
"We are now looking for this slot in June. If you are Hungarians, you would prefer that this [discussions about Ukraine's membership] be stopped before the presidency," he said.
After the EU leaders gave Kyiv political support, the next step in the accession process is to start formal negotiations through an intergovernmental conference with Ukraine. This would mean the start of membership negotiations, the newspaper points out.
For this to happen, EU countries must agree on a so-called framework for negotiations. "The 27 capitals have been arguing over this document since the European Commission sent it to them in March. So far, talks at the technical level are going well, the two diplomats said, and they expect a new draft to be sent to EU ambassadors in the coming weeks so they can resolve the most pressing issues," the newspaper writes.
Ukraine and its supporters in the EU are calling for an intergovernmental conference between Brussels and Kyiv before Hungary takes over the EU Council presidency on July 1, the newspaper reports.
As for Hungary, the newspaper notes, "before agreeing to a negotiating framework, Budapest wants more guarantees to improve the legal protection of minorities in Ukraine." At the same time, Hungary is interested in a successful presidency of the EU Council, diplomats said. The Belgians, who currently hold the presidency, are also "trying to convince Hungary that it is also in their political interest, especially because Hungary could use one of several methods to block Ukraine's accession later if it wanted to," the newspaper said.
Belgian officials are now planning to hold an intergovernmental conference (IGC) on June 25, just days before Budapest takes over the presidency on July 1. But "as always, it's impossible to predict what Hungary will do until we hear from Orban himself," said one diplomat.
A spokesman for Hungary's permanent mission to the EU said that Hungary is focused on the framework of the negotiations: "The first step is to find a consensus there. It is premature to discuss the dates of the IGC.
