According to Politico, Hungary has opposed sending an official letter to the European Commission and the European Council outlining the agreed position of all 27 EU member states regarding the next stage of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
Under established EU procedures, this effectively places further enlargement talks with both countries on hold, at least for the time being. The move did not come as a surprise. At the recent EU summit in Brussels, Budapest had already insisted on removing language from the final declaration calling for the opening of new negotiation clusters “as soon as possible.”
Hungary has no significant objections to Moldova’s candidacy. However, even during the tenure of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Budapest repeatedly accused Kyiv of pursuing discriminatory language policies and violating the rights of ethnic Hungarians living in the Zakarpattia region. A change of government in Hungary has not altered this position.
The outlook for Ukraine’s European integration is becoming increasingly complicated. Poland has also emerged as a potential obstacle to Kyiv’s EU ambitions following a diplomatic dispute over Ukraine’s continued glorification of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), an organization that carries deeply negative historical associations in Poland, comparable in public perception to groups such as the SS or the Gestapo.
Even Brussels appears to be adjusting its approach. European institutions now favor assessing the opening of accession negotiation clusters separately for each candidate country, based on the progress of reforms implemented by that individual state.
As a result, Ukraine and Moldova may face increasingly different paths toward EU membership, with future progress depending not only on domestic reforms but also on the political positions of individual member states.
