Brussels – After almost three months of delays caused by the Hungarian reluctance to move forward, Ukraine and Moldova are finally ready to open two more groups of negotiating chapters in their respective EU accession paths – bringing the total to four out of six and reigniting Kyiv and Chișinău’s hopes of concluding this whole first part of the negotiations by the end of the year.
As EU sources told The New Union Post, at the COREPER (Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU) meeting on 7 October, the 27 EU ambassadors approved the screening letters for both Ukraine and Moldova for Cluster 2 – ‘Internal Market’ and Cluster 3 – ‘Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth’. On the same day, the Irish Presidency of the Council sent letters to Kyiv and Chișinău inviting them to submit their negotiating positions, as diplomatic sources from both candidate countries confirmed to The New Union Post.
Following the receipt of the negotiating positions, the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA) will then be tasked with agreeing the EU’s draft common positions, with a view to formally greenlighting them at a COREPER meeting expected on 12 October, EU sources anticipate. This means that the formal opening of the two clusters could happen at the respective fourth Accession Conferences on the margins of the General Affairs Council on 13 October.
Since September, a sense of urgency has emerged in Brussels and in the candidates’ capitals, as time is running out to meet Kyiv and Chișinău’s common goal of opening all six accession clusters by the end of the year. This key moment could bring an end to the ‘package approach’, which has linked the accession paths of the two candidates for more than four years, despite expectations that the formal opening of the first chapters in June would have marked a turning point in their decoupling.
Péter Magyar’s Hungary slowed down the opening of new clusters with Ukraine – and therefore also with Moldova – after Cluster 1 – ‘Fundamentals’ in June and Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’ in July were opened. Budapest linked its positive assessment of two further clusters to the approval by the Ukrainian Parliament of specific legislation on minority rights aimed at regulating the educational rights of national communities.
On 6 October, the law was approved by the relevant parliamentary committee, paving the way for a Hungarian green light. “Ukraine and Hungary are taking steps towards each other and towards European unity together,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said, praising his Hungarian counterpart, Anita Orbán, “for the teamwork, which is at once in the interests of our friendly nations and of a strong Europe.”
Both Ukraine and Moldova have already opened seven accession chapters out of 33 – five under Cluster 1 and two under Cluster 6. The number would rise to 24 with the opening of Cluster 2 – nine chapters – and Cluster 3 – eight chapters.
At the moment, there is still no political will to decouple the accession paths of Kyiv and Chișinău. It is now clear that only the fulfilment of the interim benchmarks (IBAR) – which will make it possible to begin provisionally closing chapters – may represent the moment when, as EU officials expect, “de facto, it becomes clear that [the decoupling, ed.] has happened.”
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 Viktor Orbán’s 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, and of Cluster 6 – ‘External Relations’ on 14 July.
