Hungary Blocks Ukraine's EU Accession Clusters for Fourth Time, Withholds Its Demands

Hungary has blocked the opening of the EU accession negotiating clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine, marking the fourth such refusal, as Kyiv said Budapest has yet to specify its demands in exchange for lifting its objection. The Council of the EU’s Working Party on Enlargement (COELA) failed to approve the screening results for Ukraine on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Citing its own sources, Ukrainska Pravda reported that EU diplomats were unable to persuade Hungary to change its position.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “We are practically negotiating with our Hungarian partners with the EU every day to avoid artificial delays in the negotiation process,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told European Pravda, speaking separately at a Foreign Ministry briefing earlier Tuesday. Moldova’s accession caught in the same dispute The move follows a previous refusal on Sept. 1, when Hungary offered to lift its objection only if Kyiv demonstrated progress in protecting the rights of the country’s Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathia region. However, the legislative steps Ukraine is expected to take remain unspecified. The blockage also affects Moldova, as the two countries’ processes are directly intertwined. In July, Hungary indicated that it was prepared to approve the screening results for Moldova’s cluster 3, but other EU member states, including Ireland – which holds the Council presidency – opposed separating Moldova’s accession path from Ukraine’s, meaning no decision was reached for either country, as all decisions require unanimity from all 27 EU member states. Other Topics of Interest Russian Strikes Kill 2 in Dnipropetrovsk, Wound Over a Dozen Across Kharkiv, Chernihiv Regions Drones, artillery, and an aerial bomb (KAB) hit homes and businesses across Dnipropetrovsk, while Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions saw fires from separate strikes. Ministry cites influence of former Hungarian government According to Tykhyi, Hungary’s previous government, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, played a role in creating recent obstacles to Kyiv’s EU accession. “For 17 months, the government of Viktor Orbán blocked the opening of clusters, although Ukraine has fulfilled all the conditions for this,” Tykhyi said. “But even having lost power, Orbán’s team continues to disrupt the normalization of Hungary’s relations with Ukraine,” he continued. Though Hungary previously also blocked technical work on clusters 2 through 6 for Ukraine, it later lifted its objection to Cluster 6, covering foreign and security policy, trade policy, and relations with third countries. Cluster 2 covers the EU internal market, while Cluster 3 covers competitiveness and inclusive growth. After the EU opened the first negotiating Cluster 1 – Fundamentals – for Ukraine and Moldova on June 15, Budapest delayed a joint EU letter concerning the two countries’ accession bids, blocking a key procedural step by opposing a joint letter to EU institutions that requires unanimous approval. During his tenure, Orbán repeatedly cited concerns over the rights of the Hungarian minority as a reason Hungary had delayed opening the first negotiation cluster. Current Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar appeared to take a detour from Orbán’s approach, ultimately sealing what he called a “historic agreement” with Ukraine earlier in June, formally securing the educational, cultural, linguistic and political rights of ethnic Hungarian communities in the Transcarpathia region. “In just a few weeks, we have succeeded in resolving an issue that the Orbán government was unable to address in ten years,” Magyar said. However, despite Magyar’s agreement with Kyiv on minority rights, that deal has not proven sufficient, as Hungary continues blocking Ukraine’s EU accession bid. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.