As stated in the publication, at the meeting held on July 17, participants were to approve the verification results of the 2nd and 3rd negotiation clusters of Ukraine and Moldova. After that, official letters were to be sent to both countries requesting their negotiation positions on these clusters.
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According to the publication’s source, it was Hungary’s position that became the main obstacle to the progress of the process.
The publication notes that Hungary opposed the opening of the 3rd negotiation cluster for Ukraine, effectively halting the negotiation process not only for Kyiv but also for Chișinău. This happened because some EU member states opposed separating Ukraine and Moldova in the EU accession process.
According to “European Pravda,” representatives of several countries demanded that both issues be considered together, so a compromise could not be reached. In the absence of a unified agreement, the consideration of the issue was postponed.
“Due to the lack of consensus, it was decided to return to the approval of the verification results of the 2nd and 3rd clusters of Ukraine and Moldova at the next COELA meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, July 22,” the publication states.
The July 22 meeting will be the last meeting of the EU Council Working Group on Enlargement before the summer break. After that, experts will return to work only in the fall – the next meeting in Brussels is scheduled for September 1.
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This means that if the member states fail to reach an agreement on July 22, the opening of new negotiation clusters for Ukraine and Moldova’s EU accession will be postponed at least until early autumn.
The publication “European Truth” does not specify the exact reasons why Hungary decided to block this process.
Ukraine’s EU membership prospects
As UNIAN previously reported, in June Hungary had already halted an important procedural step in Ukraine and Moldova’s EU accession negotiations – it opposed sending a joint letter from all 27 EU member states. This threatened Kyiv’s plan to open all six negotiation clusters by mid-July.
At that time, Hungarian Prime Minister P. Magyar urged a gradual approach to enlargement, arguing that it was necessary to consider the interests of the Western Balkan countries, as they have been waiting for progress in the EU accession process for many years.
