Ukraine could start EU membership talks in spring 2026
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Photo: Getty Images)
Negotiation clusters for Ukraine’s EU accession may only start after Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April 2026, reports Deutsche Welle.
A senior EU official, speaking anonymously, noted that although Kyiv has met all the prerequisites to begin negotiations, Hungary is currently blocking the opening of the first negotiation cluster.
“At present, there is no way to overcome Hungary’s veto,” the source said, emphasizing that the decision to start negotiation clusters with a candidate country must be unanimous.
According to the official, the EU did discuss the idea of moving to qualified majority voting, but it remained at the level of conversation.
The source told DW that the only practical solution in the current situation is to complete all technical preparations in advance so that, after Orbán leaves, the Ukraine negotiation process can be launched quickly.
Orbán’s blocking veto
Another EU official confirmed that member states tried to find legal mechanisms to bypass Hungary’s veto. Discussions were held both in the European Commission and the EU Council, but they produced no results, leaving the situation difficult.
“It turns out that in enlargement negotiations, it is ultimately a political decision, even though we emphasize that this is a process based on the merits of the candidate country,” the official said, adding that Ukraine has fulfilled all requirements to open the first negotiation cluster.
He also confirmed that the final screening session with Ukraine on the compliance of its legislation with EU standards took place on September 29.
After that, several intermediate technical steps were to take place before opening the first cluster, which would take about a week.
“If it weren’t for Hungary’s veto, we could have very quickly started opening the first and subsequent clusters,” the source concluded.
Ukraine’s EU accession process
Ukraine submitted its application for European Union membership a few days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In December 2023, the European Council decided to start accession negotiations with Ukraine.
In June 2024, the European Commission positively assessed the progress of Ukraine’s and Moldova’s European integration reforms. Brussels approved a negotiation framework for Ukraine, outlining the format and procedure for EU membership talks.
However, Hungary and Slovakia began blocking the negotiations, setting various conditions. The latest demand was to stop attacks on the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies both countries with energy from Russia.
Meanwhile, Lithuania proposed its own plan for negotiating Ukraine’s accession without Hungary’s consent.
