Brussels – Just when the path seemed to be clearing, it is once again Hungary that is dampening ambitions for the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova. Negotiations which, it should be recalled, have been decoupled since the opening of Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ on 15 June, and now depend solely on assessments of each candidate’s progress in meeting the opening benchmarks.
At the meeting of the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA) – the Council body responsible for preparing the technical and political steps in the enlargement process – on 23 June, Hungary was the only member state not to green light the Cyprus Presidency’s proposal on the EU common positions to open the five remaining clusters with both candidates, as several EU diplomats confirmed the outcome to The New Union Post.
The “scrutiny reserve” of Péter Magyar’s government is no longer a blanket block against Ukraine – as it was with Viktor Orbán – given both the “comprehensive agreement” with Kyiv on expanding the rights of the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathia region and the fact that the so-called ‘package approach’ that linked the accession paths of Kyiv and Chișinău for more than four years no longer applies. Nevertheless, the veto is now more subtle than before.
“The EU cannot bypass the Western Balkan countries, which have been negotiating for years, with a different kind of enlargement process, as that would be neither honest nor pragmatic,” the Hungarian Prime Minister said during the European Council meeting on 18–19 June. Budapest wants to “proceed more slowly” with Ukraine and Moldova, he added, stressing concerns that “immediately after the opening of the first cluster, negotiations on the remaining clusters are being launched without delay.”
However, the Commission had already recognised in 2025 that all six clusters were ready to be opened with both Kyiv and Chișinău. Moreover, since March, front-loading work has been carried out informally at the technical level to support progress on the reforms required to align national legislations with the EU acquis across all 33 chapters, allowing formal negotiations to advance more quickly once they begin.
As EU officials explain, Hungary’s “scrutiny reserve” on 23 June “was not an opposition” and, in practical terms, means that it remains open to changing its position as soon as the point ‘Outcome of screening on clusters 2 to 6’ with both candidates returns to the COELA agenda – potentially as early as 26 June.
Recalling that the concept of “coupling” is a political construct decided by the member states in the Council, and that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made clear that “once Cluster 1 is open, each candidate country is responsible for itself” – since each must deliver “different reforms” – the EU accession paths of Kyiv and Chișinău remain somehow linked by Magyar’s reluctance to proceed more swiftly.
Moldova is deemed ready to meet the goal of opening all the clusters already in July, paving the way for the fulfilment of interim benchmarks and the start of chapter closing. Ukraine could “open more clusters during the summer,” von der Leyen said, reviving the idea of a “Terrific Tuesday” on 14 July. However, the European Council conclusions merely “look forward to the opening of the other clusters, in line with the merit-based approach,” with both candidates. The reference to “as soon as possible” contained in the latest draft circulated on the eve of the EU leaders’ summit – seen by The New Union Post – was removed in the final text.
The state of EU relations with Ukraine and Moldova
Just four days after the start of Russia’s war of aggression, on 28 February 2022, Ukraine submitted its application for EU membership, with Moldova following three days later, on 3 March. On 23 June 2022, the European Council endorsed the European Commission’s recommendation to grant Kyiv and Chișinău candidate status.
At the European Council meeting on 14 December 2023, EU leaders gave the green light to open accession negotiations. Following the Council’s approval of the negotiating frameworks, the first intergovernmental conferences with the two countries were held on 25 June 2024 in Luxembourg. As recognised in the 2025 Enlargement Package, the screening process has been successfully concluded with both Kyiv and Chișinău.
With Hungary vetoing the start of Ukraine’s EU negotiations, Moldova’s accession has also been put on hold, as Chișinău’s EU process is tied to Kyiv’s through the so-called “package approach” (which has linked the two dossiers from the very beginning).
On 17 March 2026, technical guidance was provided by the Commission to continue work on EU reforms across all six negotiating clusters, before the change of power in Budapest paved the way for the opening of Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ with both Ukraine and Moldova on 15 June. With this step, the two accession paths have been decoupled.
Once the first group of five negotiating chapters (out of 33) – focusing on economic criteria, the functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform – is opened, the other Clusters can follow with an unanimous decision by the Council.
