Hungary has once again blocked the opening of new European Union accession negotiation clusters for Ukraine and Moldova.
As the EU institutions prepare for their summer recess, two additional negotiation clusters remain unopened after Hungary vetoed the decision during a meeting of the Council Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA) on July 22. The issue has now been postponed until September 1.
This marks the second unsuccessful attempt within a week.
Hungary continues to oppose the approval of the screening results for Cluster 2 (“Internal Market”) and Cluster 3 (“Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth”).
According to diplomatic sources, Budapest indicated it could support opening Cluster 3 for Moldova but not for Ukraine. However, the majority of EU member states reportedly rejected treating the two candidate countries differently.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who succeeded Viktor Orbán, has repeatedly argued against accelerating the accession process for both Ukraine and Moldova.
He previously stated that opening multiple negotiation clusters simultaneously would be unfair to other candidate countries, particularly those in the Western Balkans.
“There are six clusters in total, and we do not believe opening them all at once is a good idea. Partly because the ink has barely dried on the first one, and partly because it would send the wrong signal to the Western Balkan countries,” Magyar said.
The Hungarian government insists that accession negotiations should advance strictly according to the merit-based principle.
So far, Moldova and Ukraine have opened only two of the six negotiating clusters:
• Cluster 1 – Fundamentals (June 15);
• Cluster 6 – External Relations (July 14).
Former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka had expressed confidence in mid-July that the remaining clusters would be opened before autumn. Those expectations have not materialized.
Earlier this month, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that all four remaining clusters were technically ready to be opened.
She described the enlargement process as moving “at a pace not seen in the past 15 years” and called the accession of Ukraine and Moldova a strategic priority for Europe’s security.
However, Kos also acknowledged that further progress depends entirely on unanimous approval by all EU member states.
As a result, despite optimistic statements from both Brussels and Chișinău regarding Moldova’s European integration, Budapest’s opposition continues to delay the process.
With EU institutions entering their traditional August recess, no further enlargement meetings are expected before September.
The next opportunity to revisit the issue is scheduled for September 1.
