It's high time for EU to start membership talks with Ukraine, Germany's Merz says
Photo: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Getty Images)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz backed opening the first negotiation cluster for Ukraine's EU accession. Bilateral issues with Hungary must be resolved separately, Merz said during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar in Berlin.
According to the Chancellor, Germany understands Budapest's desire to resolve issues related to the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
"We understand that Budapest first wants to settle bilateral issues, such as the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine," Merz said.
At the same time, he emphasized that such discussions should not become an obstacle to Ukraine's further progress toward membership in the European Union.
"This should not come at the expense of European support and should not distract us from the goal of opening the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine now," the German leader stressed.
Merz thus effectively urged EU countries to move to the practical stage of accession talks with Ukraine despite existing disagreements between Kyiv and Budapest.
The opening of the first negotiation cluster remains one of the key elements of Ukraine's path toward EU membership. Unanimous support from all the bloc's member states is required to pass the relevant decision.
Earlier, officials in Brussels said that Ukraine could complete most stages of the accession negotiations within the next 12 to 18 months. At that pace, Kyiv could theoretically move on to signing an EU membership agreement as early as 2027.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has already approved a tentative timetable for Ukraine's accession negotiations. Under the plan, Brussels intends to propose opening the first negotiation cluster in mid-June.
