Hungary has agreed to unblock Ukraineʼs further progress in EU accession negotiations. This concerns the opening of clusters 2 "Internal Market" and 3 "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth".
This was reported to the Babel correspondent by a source in the EU familiar with the progress of the negotiations.
According to the interlocutor, representatives of EU countries have agreed on the results of Ukraineʼs screening for these two clusters. This means that Kyiv can move on to the next stage of the procedure for their opening.
The EU now needs to agree on negotiating positions on clusters. This is expected to happen on Monday, October 12, at a meeting of EU permanent representatives.
And 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.
An EU source has informally confirmed that the process is currently proceeding as planned, but the October 13 date remains a possibility, not a final decision.
UPD at 3:30 PM: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha confirmed that Hungary has given the "green light" to negotiating positions regarding the two clusters.
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.
Now, two clusters have been opened for Ukraine — “Fundamentals” and “Foreign Relations”.
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone