EU summit expects to back Ukraine's EU path, but there's nuance, source says
Photo: EU ready to promote Ukraine's accession even without Hungary's consent (neweasterneurope.eu)
At the upcoming European Council summit, Ukraine is expected to receive support for further progress toward EU membership, though not unanimous support, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing a source within the European Union.
According to the source, 26 out of 27 EU member states are expected to express support for Ukraine's continued advancement on its EU path - with the exception of Hungary.
"And certainly, if 26 countries agree to move forward within a merit-based approach and under the enlargement methodology, which no one is questioning, then, first of all, it's a very clear signal," the source said.
The source also noted that work can continue even in the absence of formal decisions.
"I believe this opens up the possibility, if the situation remains blocked due to lack of unanimity, for example, in adopting formal decisions - at the very least to continue working informally so that the process for Ukraine does not stall," the source said.
As the source emphasized, the position of the 26 EU countries is a clear sign of support for Ukraine based on its achievements. In their words, "work can continue. And when the conditions for officially moving forward are in place, it can happen more quickly."
"If we don't have unanimity (on opening accession negotiation clusters with Ukraine), then we should be able to move forward informally. Again, this is not the end of the story," the source added.
Hungary blocking Ukraine's EU membership talks
Budapest continues to block the opening of accession negotiation clusters for Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly stated he does not support Ukraine's EU membership.
To back his stance, Orbán initiated a public survey on whether Hungarians support Ukraine joining the EU. However, the results of an April poll by the opposition party TISZA showed the opposite: 58% of respondents supported Ukraine's accession. More than 1.1 million people took part in the poll.
Despite this, Orbán publicly boasted on social media that he voted against Ukraine’s European future. He claimed that Ukraine's membership allegedly poses a threat to the Hungarian economy and that the EU would be forced to support a million-strong Ukrainian army. Orbán even described Ukraine's possible EU entry as economic suicide.
In light of Hungary's stance, alternative scenarios are already being considered within the EU. In particular, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed that plan B and plan C options are on the table if Budapest's veto cannot be overcome.
Earlier today, RBC-Ukraine learned that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may attend the European Council summit in Brussels on June 26–27.
