The European Union authorities are preparing to start technical work to advance the process of Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the community, bypassing Hungary's position, reports the Financial Times, citing sources. This includes work on promoting reforms and aligning the legislation of Ukraine and Moldova with European standards.
Thus, it is proposed to launch the process, start technical work in several thematic groups—clusters—in the absence of an official decision to start accession talks for these countries to the EU, which Hungary opposes. According to diplomats, this approach will accelerate the preparation of Kyiv and Chisinau. Once the Hungarian veto is lifted, formalities could be completed in a short time. “In theory, you could open and close a cluster in one day,” noted one official.
Kyiv applied for membership in 2022, shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion, followed by Moldova. Both states officially began accession talks with the EU last year, but Budapest is blocking the next step—opening negotiation clusters, which require unanimous approval from all 27 bloc countries.
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka stated that Kyiv hopes to convince Budapest to allow negotiations. According to him, the final decision on accession still requires unanimity and is a “deeply political issue.” However, it is very important to already conduct work in parallel, the diplomat noted.
Earlier, Politico reported that the EU is discussing bypassing Hungary's veto on Ukraine's path to membership. The new plan provides for opening negotiations by a qualified majority, rather than a unanimous decision.