Magyar removes Ukraine fast-track clause from EU text
Péter Magyar announced that a clause concerning the acceleration of Ukraine’s EU accession was removed from the document (Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman)
The European Council has reached a compromise on the wording of its final declaration regarding Ukraine’s EU accession, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on June 18.
He stated that a clause concerning the acceleration of Ukraine’s EU accession was removed from the document.
“Following four hours of debate, we were able to conclude the first item on the agenda of the European Council meeting,” Magyar wrote.
“Only text that was already adopted by consensus years ago made it into the final document of the heads of state and government summit.”
He stated that the statement’s text was significantly changed during the process.
“Furthermore, regarding Ukraine's EU accession process, the clause referring to the acceleration of accession was removed from the text at the last minute, at my initiative. It was not easy,” the Hungarian Prime Minister said.
He added that reaching a compromise was made possible by the negotiating parties' search for joint solutions.
“This is also how it can be done, if someone comes not just to overturn tables and create fear, but tries to find a compromise,” he wrote.
Magyar stated on June 18 that Budapest and several other European capitals share procedural doubts regarding the urgent opening of the remaining negotiating clusters for Ukraine's EU accession.
Ukraine EU accession talks
The official opening of the first negotiating cluster with Ukraine took place in Luxembourg on June 15 at an EU Council meeting. This breakthrough became possible after weeks of negotiations led Kyiv and Budapest to a compromise on safeguarding the rights of national minorities. The Ukrainian government submitted a revised action plan on minority protections to Brussels on June 12, incorporating terms mutually agreed upon with EU member states.
European media outlets, citing official sources, reported that Ukraine may open up the five remaining negotiating clusters on July 14, 2026, during the EU General Affairs Council meeting.
In particular, The Guardian, citing European officials, noted that completing the technical part of negotiations with Ukraine is entirely realistic within four years. Meanwhile, the possibility of decoupling the Ukraine-Moldova pair in the future is being discussed behind the scenes in the EU, as some European diplomats estimate that Chisinau is now advancing on a number of internal reforms somewhat faster than Kyiv.
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