Ukraine has agreed on the second and third negotiation clusters on EU accession

All EU member states have agreed to the second and third negotiation clusters for Ukraine and Moldova on accession to the European Union.

This was reported by Irish Foreign Minister Thomas Bjorn.

These are Cluster 2 "Internal Market" and Cluster 3 "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth".

After that, on October 13, an intergovernmental conference between Ukraine and the EU may take place, at which clusters 2 and 3 may be formally opened.

What are Ukraineʼs successes on its path to the EU?

Ukraine intensified cooperation with the EU in 2014, after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity. In the same year, the Verkhovna Rada and the European Parliament simultaneously approved the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

It entered into full force on September 1, 2017. Ukraineʼs path to membership in the European Union and NATO was enshrined in the Constitution in February 2019.

On February 28, 2022, Ukraine applied for membership in the European Union. On June 17, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine candidate status for EU membership and set out a number of conditions that the country must meet before starting negotiations on EU membership. On June 23, EU leaders gathered in Brussels for a summit, where they granted Ukraine candidate status.

At the end of 2023, the European Union allowed negotiations to begin. They were formally launched in 2024, but the process slowed down, in particular due to the position of then-Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who blocked the opening of negotiation clusters.

After a change of government in Hungary, the country lifted its 17-month veto on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU in June 2026. However, within weeks, Hungary threatened to stop Ukraineʼs accession to the EU if Kyiv did not implement an agreement on the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

Currently, two clusters have already been opened for Ukraine — "Fundamentals" and "Foreign Relations".

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