Hungary's demands stall EU accession talks with Ukraine
Hungary has set additional conditions regarding the opening of accession negotiations between Ukraine and the European Union. According to information from RMF FM, citing EU diplomats, Budapest blocked the sending of a letter to Kyiv with conditions for starting talks, which had the support of all other member countries.
The Polish presidency presented a draft document on Friday, which was to be transmitted to the Ukrainian side. The document proposed the preparation of two roadmaps - one concerning reforms in the area of the rule of law, and the other focusing on changes in public administration.
The problem turned out to be the stance of Viktor Orban. Hungary made additional demands on Kyiv, including the need to provide a detailed plan for the protection of national minorities. This particular condition became the main obstacle to achieving unanimity, which is required in this matter.
Poland, currently holding the presidency of the EU Council, plans to open two of the six negotiation clusters. The first is the "Foundations" cluster, covering issues of rule of law and fundamental EU values, and the second is "External Relations", focused on foreign and defence policy.
Ukraine's preparations for membership
The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, informed that the government in Kyiv is working intensively on strategic documents. The draft roadmap currently contains 474 actions, which have been developed during over 20 consultations with national experts, government representatives, civil society, and the European Commission.
Ukrainian plans include preparing key strategic documents, including the Public Administration Reform Strategy for 2026-2030 and the Public Financial Management Reform Strategy for the same period. There is also a plan to develop a National Program for the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law.
Ukraine received candidate country status on June 23, 2022, and official accession negotiations began in June 2024. The authorities in Kyiv declared the intention to complete the accession process by 2030. The entire negotiation comprises 35 chapters, of which 33 are grouped into six thematic clusters.
