The accession process of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the EU, unblocked by Hungary after a “historic agreement” with Kiev
Hungary has decided to lift the veto from Ukraine's accession, whose candidacy is informally coupled with that of the Republic of Moldova, which allows the two states to formally open the first cluster of negotiations, Euronews.com wrote.
The publication notes that the breakthrough came suddenly on Wednesday night during a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels, according to statements made by several diplomats.
This veto of Budapest existed for two years, from the period of the government of Viktor Orban and Fidesz, and its lifting allows the accession process to enter a new phase.
The Hungarian ambassador signaled the waiver of reservations, which will allow member states to obtain the necessary unanimity for procedural steps. A new item was added to the agenda at the last minute to give the green light.
The accession process consists of 33 chapters divided into six thematic groups, so-called clusters.
The first cluster is known as the fundamentals cluster, as it covers the rule of law, human rights and the judiciary. Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, candidate countries whose files were informally linked, have been trying for two years to unlock the first cluster, but the process was blocked by the position of Viktor Orban's government. Since then, Brussels has tried – unsuccessfully – to circumvent the Hungarian veto in various ways.
Peter Magyar announced a “historic agreement” with Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Hungary, who took office on May 9, after defeating Viktor Orban in the April elections, announced that a “historic agreement” was concluded with Ukraine regarding the rights of the Hungarian minority, for which educational, linguistic, cultural and political rights will be fully restored, according to EFE, quoted by Agerpres.
“It will give our Transcarpathian compatriots much wider rights than before in terms of education, culture, use of the (Hungarian) language and political participation,” said Peter Magyar.
He specified that the commitments undertaken by Ukraine will also be included in the Ukrainian action plan for EU accession.
On the other hand, Magyar said that “Hungary still does not support accelerated EU accession negotiations.”
“If Ukraine manages to close all 33 chapters of the accession negotiations in 10 or 15 years, our country will organize a binding referendum,” Peter Magyar also said.
