Ukraine plans to open all negotiation clusters with the EU by the end of the year

Ukraine wants to open all negotiation clusters with the EU by the end of 2026, and during Lithuaniaʼs EU presidency in the first half of 2027, to preliminarily close seven negotiation chapters.

Such plans were reported by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretsky in a speech at a forum on EU enlargement organized by Euronews, reports a Babel correspondent.

According to him, Ukraine, together with the Verkhovna Rada and the European Commission, is working to accelerate the implementation of the interim criteria (IBAR) for the first negotiation cluster "Fundamentals".

A joint working group has been created for this purpose. Koretsky said that he is personally involved in this work, and Ukraine wants to receive a positive assessment of the implementation of the interim criteria as early as possible in 2027.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that these goals are ambitious, but emphasized: Ukraine is not asking to reduce the requirements for accession, but wants to have a clear schedule, clear criteria, and timely EU decisions after their implementation.

Koretsky was also asked whether Ukraine would agree to temporary restrictions on access to the EU agricultural market and European support after accession. The Prime Minister replied that Ukraine understood the concerns of European farmers and was ready for dialogue.

However, transitional restrictions should relate to specific risks, be proportionate and have clear conditions for review and cancellation. They should not permanently close the way for Ukrainian farmers to the EU single market.

"Ukrainian farmers will invest significantly to meet EU standards, while rebuilding their farms after Russian attacks. Ukraine offers Europe not only competition, but also new opportunities: strengthening food security, developing the processing industry and bioenergy, and strengthening European supply chains," the Prime Minister said.

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.

In late 2023, the European Union allowed negotiations to begin. They were formally scheduled to start in 2024, but the process was blocked by Hungary under Viktor Orban. After a change of government in Hungary, the country lifted its 17-month veto on Ukraine’s EU accession in June 2026.

However, within weeks, Hungary threatened to block Ukraine’s EU accession if Kyiv did not implement an agreement on the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

On October 12, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in two readings the law on education in the languages of national minorities and indigenous peoples, and Zelensky signed the law.

After that, on October 13, the EU Council officially opened two more negotiation clusters for Ukraine on joining the European Union — “Internal Market” and “Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth”. In total, four out of six clusters have been opened so far. The previous two were opened in June (“Fundamentals”) and July (“External Relations”).

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