Hungary will also decide the fate of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations - European Commission

Ukraine has fulfilled the criteria for opening the first cluster of negotiations on accession to the European Union, a European Commission spokesman told LIGA.net in Brussels. Regarding the situation with Hungary, he explained that all decisions on EU enlargement will be made by all member states of the bloc.

Answering a question from LIGA.net about how Brussels plans to get around the situation if Hungary continues to block important decisions or joint statements on Ukraine, the European Commission noted that all decisions in the EU should be made unanimously.

However, Hungary is currently part of the negotiation process, and formal decisions will be made by all member states, they added .

"After the Heads of State and Government decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine in December 2023, the EU Council agreed on the main negotiating document, the so-called 'negotiating framework', which was officially opened in June 2024. This framework has been agreed by all EU member states, including Hungary, and sets out the procedures for the negotiations," the statement reads.

The European Commission has assessed that Ukraine has fulfilled the criteria for opening the first cluster, which covers the fundamental principles of the EU. It also praised Ukraine's plan on minorities, which "takes into account the concerns of its neighbors.".

"Since the start of the negotiations, both Ukraine and Moldova have made steady progress towards EU accession. Currently, the main discussions are focused on the first negotiation cluster, where both candidate countries have adopted the documents envisaged in the framework of the negotiations," the European institution summarized.

• on March 14, 2025, President Zelenskyy announced that the decision on Ukraine's membership in the EU is being blocked by only one country, Hungary. To resolve foreign policy and security issues, the support of all bloc member states is needed.
• On June 26, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban announced the results of the Voks2025 propaganda national poll on Ukraine's accession to the EU. He stated that the vast majority of Hungarians voted against.