EU tries to stop Hungary blocking Ukraine's membership talks – Bloomberg
The European Union is discussing ways to stop Hungary's blocking of Ukraine's membership talks, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
They said that during a closed-door discussion last week, some member states pushed the European Commission, the bloc's executive body, to explore options for opening the first chapter of the negotiations, despite objections raised by Budapest.
Interlocutors claim that EU members believe that Budapest wants to derail the process with the help of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's plan to hold "national consultations" on Ukraine's accession, despite the previous agreement to start accession negotiations in 2023.
Hungary lifted its veto only in December 2023, after Brussels unblocked 10 billion euros of European funds frozen due to problems with corruption and the rule of law in the country.
"EU members can only tolerate a certain amount of deliberate abuse of the veto. We saw this in the context of Ukraine. There are several tools we can use, and we should not be afraid to use them," Irish Prime Minister Michail Martin said the other day.
There may be ways around this obstacle. While unanimity is required to open and close EU accession negotiations, it is not legally binding to open or close individual chapters in the process, Bloomberg sources added.
According to sources, the European Commission informed member states during a recent closed-door meeting that it intends to send the European Council a first report on the opening of negotiations on the first chapter of the accession process of Ukraine and Moldova.
If Hungary lifts its veto, the EU executive said member states would still be able to decide to start negotiations in June.
- On February 14, 2025, Hungary blocked the start of the first stage of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union on the rule of law, called "Fundamentals".
- On May 2, Orban stated that Ukraine's accession to the EU would supposedly destroy the Hungarian economy, and explained the current problems in the country's economy by the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
- On May 12, Stefanchuk called for the removal of artificial obstacles to the start of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU.