Hungary delays procedural step for Ukraine and Moldova’s EU accession

Budapest opposed sending a letter to the European Council and the European Commission on behalf of the EU’s 27 member states that would have set out the capitals’ joint position. Hungary was the only country to oppose the move, which requires unanimous approval from all 27 governments, diplomats said. They said the matter will be discussed again next week.

“Kyiv and Chisinau reached a milestone on their path into the bloc when EU countries unanimously approved, on June 15, the opening of the first formal negotiating chapter for both countries,” Politico noted.

“The move had been blocked for years by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who opposed Ukraine’s EU membership.”

A spokesman for Hungary’s permanent representation to the EU in Brussels did not respond to requests for comment.

Although Hungarian PM Peter Magyar did not oppose opening the first negotiating cluster for Ukraine, his government insisted on removing the words “as soon as possible” on Kyiv’s EU membership from the written conclusions of the EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels last week, one diplomat said.

At a news conference at the end of last week’s European Council meeting, Magyar told reporters: “There are six clusters in total, and we do not think opening them all at once is a good idea, partly because the ink on the first one has not even dried, and partly because it would send the wrong signal to the Western Balkans — Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia — who have worked for years on EU membership.”