Five EU countries push vote curbs for future members as bloc eyes expansion

The initiative comes as the EU weighs another round of enlargement, with Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova seeking membership. It also reflects concern that democratic standards could erode in new member states, as seen in Hungary.

The document proposes additional monitoring and safeguards that would allow the EU to respond to violations of democracy, media freedom and other basic principles.

The countries also want to discuss temporarily limiting new members’ voting rights in areas where decisions require unanimity, including foreign policy, the EU budget and further enlargement.

Where Ukraine’s EU accession talks stand

Kyiv has agreed to 10 of Hungary’s 11 demands as part of technical consultations on EU integration, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Ukraine pledged to amend its secondary education law and significantly expand the civic and political rights of national minorities.

Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi welcomed the agreements with Budapest, saying the basic principles of Ukraine’s education system remain unchanged. The only unresolved issue with Hungary is the representation of national minorities in the Verkhovna Rada.

Separately, the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU said preparations had begun for the official opening of the first cluster in Ukraine and Moldova’s accession talks. Slovakia also strongly supports the step.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine expects to move toward opening the first negotiating clusters as early as June 2026, despite sensitive bilateral disputes with neighboring EU countries.