The European Council summit has once again turned into a crisis — it cannot agree on what to do with Viktor Orban
The leaders of the European Union countries regularly meet at the European Council. It is a kind of "supervisory board" of the EU and determines political priorities: which economic support programs to launch; how to respond to crises or conflicts; what strategic goals to set for the coming years.
Recently, these meetings have been turning into crisis ones. Todayʼs summit was supposed to consider long-term issues: how to revive the economy, regulate migration, draw up the next multi-year budget and build security.
But Donald Trump had other plans. So instead, they will talk about the war in the Middle East and its consequences for energy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also attend this meeting.
For Ukraine, this summit is important for another reason. The EU needs to agree on a €90 billion financial aid package, but cannot do so due to the veto of the Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Orban demands that Ukraine resume the transit of Russian oil through the “Druzhba” pipeline.
European leaders had several options to win Orban over to their side. One of them was to take the Hungarian prime minister to the European Court of Justice. Orban violated the EUʼs principle of "sincere cooperation" by not keeping his promise to support the package, which he gave at the European Council summit in December.
However, such a scenario was not seriously considered, because any legal proceedings would last for years (itʼs too long). At the same time, a trial of Orban would play into his hands before the elections in Hungary.
The second option is to repair the “Druzhba” oil pipeline. Ukraine has already agreed to the EUʼs offer of technical assistance and funding. However, the Hungarian Foreign Minister called it a "political game", and Viktor Orban said he would not change his position until oil transit is restored: "If there is no oil, there is no money."
So the question of money for Ukraine remains hanging in the balance. The EU Council only makes such decisions unanimously. Because of this, political disputes affect both financial assistance to Ukraine and negotiations on its accession to the EU.
On January 27, the Russians struck energy infrastructure related to the “Druzhba” oil pipeline in the Lviv region.
The European Commission was looking for a scenario for Ukraineʼs rapid accession to the EU, bypassing Orbanʼs veto, but did not find one that would suit everyone.
The process of Ukraineʼs accession to the EU is being held up by Hungaryʼs position. Due to the veto of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the EU Council cannot open negotiations on clusters — blocks of issues covering different areas of EU policy.
That is why European leaders have begun discussing how to move the enlargement process forward without Hungaryʼs consent.
Ukraine’s European future was discussed by Ukrainian, European and American leaders last year. Ukraine’s accession to the European Union began to be seen as one of the key conditions for a stable peace in Europe after the great war ended.
President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted on specifying a clear date for Ukraine’s accession to the EU in a future peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, with 2027 as the target year.
Therefore, the European Commission has developed a model of “reverse enlargement”. According to it, Ukraine would become an official member of the EU, but without access to most of the associated benefits, such as voting rights or the Common Agricultural Policy.
Ukraine would receive these benefits gradually, depending on the progress of reforms. That is, first Ukraine becomes an EU member, and then carries out the necessary reforms. But on March 4, at an informal dinner of ambassadors with the European Commission, this idea was rejected.
Not only Hungary, but also other EU governments, including France and Germany, oppose the model of accelerated Ukraineʼs accession to the EU. They fear that Kyiv will halt reforms, such as the fight against corruption, if Ukraine becomes an EU member.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sees off Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting in London, December 8, 2025.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Even without changing the rules, Ukraine can complete the "technical" work by 2027 (if the EU helps)
The Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka said in a comment to Babel that none of the ideas or concepts for Ukraineʼs accession to the EU have been completely rejected, but none of them have yet taken a clear form.
Ukraine seeks full and formal membership in the European Union under the procedure provided for in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union. This is how all other countries joined the EU. At the same time, some details can still be discussed. For example, the scope of rights after accession or possible transitional periods.
That is why Ukraine proposes to create a working group and prepare the future Treaty on Accession to the EU. Usually, such a group is created only after the country closes all negotiation clusters. Taras Kachka believes that if this work is started earlier, the parties will be able to use the time better and work out all the conditions of future membership. Such work could involve lawyers, representatives of all EU countries and experts who know the sensitive issues of each country.
According to Taras Kachka, even if the rules by which the EU can accept new members are not changed and the main principle is not deviated from (a country joins the EU only after it carries out reforms), the main part of the work can be completed by 2027.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European Integration Taras Kachka at a press conference before the meeting of the EU Council on General Affairs in Brussels, March 17, 2026.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Ukraineʼs accession negotiations have entered a technical phase
Ukraine is currently continuing to prepare for accession and is harmonizing its legislation with EU law together with the European Commission. Membership negotiations have already entered the so-called technical phase. This means that Ukraine is working to meet the criteria it received from the EU, even if formal decisions to open negotiation clusters have not yet been made.
To understand how this phase works, it is worth briefly explaining the structure of the negotiations. EU legislation is divided into 33 chapters, which are currently grouped into six large thematic blocks (the so-called clusters).
Before opening each of them, the candidate country must meet a list of conditions ("benchmarks"). These are requirements for reforms and changes in legislation that the European Union considers necessary in order to start negotiations in the relevant area.
The clusters were not officially opened due to the Hungarian veto, but Ukraine and the EU are working through the “Lviv format”. This is an informal cooperation mechanism that emerged after the Ukrainian and European negotiating teams met in Lviv last December.
It allows the 26 EU countries, together with the European Commission, to continue technical work on Ukraine’s accession.
EU ministers and diplomats commemorate the fallen Ukrainian soldiers on the Champ de Mars during an informal meeting of EU ministers in Lviv, December 11, 2025.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
It looks like this: Ukraine receives from the European Union a list of conditions (“benchmarks”, specific reforms and changes to legislation) that must be met before the opening of the negotiation clusters. At the same time, Ukrainian and European experts begin to discuss these changes and prepare the necessary laws.
That is, Ukraine prepares for negotiations in advance. When the EU countries finally unanimously agree to officially open the clusters, much of the technical work will already be done.
On March 17, Ukraine received “benchmarks” for the last three negotiation clusters. These are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th clusters:
- “Competitiveness and Inclusive Development”
- “Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity”
- “Resources, Agriculture, and Cohesion Policy”.
The Cabinet of Ministers immediately sent the received document with the conditions to the Verkhovna Rada to work together on implementation.
- In December, Ukraine received the criteria for three other clusters: “Fundamentals of the EU accession process” (1)
- “Internal market” (2)
- “External relations” (6).
Ukraine now has a full package of conditions that must be met to join the EU.
Taras Kachka says that several areas in the accession negotiations now require the most attention. First and foremost, it is the rule of law, including judicial reform, anti-corruption infrastructure, and the stability of state institutions.
The second major topic is the agricultural sector and the EU internal market. Ukraine has one of the largest agricultural economies in Europe, so the integration of its producers into the EU common market requires the coordination of a large number of standards and rules.