A European diplomat said member states had not changed their positions and that Hungary continued to oppose further progress on Ukrainian membership, including the opening of the two negotiating clusters.
“Member states have not changed their positions; Hungary does not agree to move forward with opening clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine,” the diplomat said.
A similar situation has emerged regarding Moldova. Hungary said in July that it was prepared to approve the screening results for Moldova’s third cluster. However, other EU countries have so far not supported advancing Moldova and Ukraine separately in the accession negotiations.
On Sept. 1, at the first COELA meeting after the summer recess, Hungary’s delegation again refused to approve the screening results for Ukraine’s clusters 2 and 3.
On Sept. 3, Hungarian PM Péter Magyar said Ukraine did not currently meet the conditions for joining the European Union and that its integration should proceed under the general rules, without exceptions or accelerated procedures.
The first negotiating cluster with Ukraine and Moldova,
“Fundamentals,” was officially opened June 15 in Luxembourg. On July
14, the EU officially opened Ukraine’s sixth negotiating cluster, covering
external relations.