Budapest has blocked the dispatch to the European Council and the European Commission of a joint letter in which all 27 EU member states were to confirm a shared position on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the bloc, Politico reports, citing two sources.
The letter would have been the next procedural step after the 15 June decision, when EU countries approved opening the first negotiating cluster for Kyiv and Chisinau. Approving the document, however, requires unanimity among all 27 capitals, so because of Hungary’s stance the matter will be discussed again next week.
The opening of the first cluster was long blocked by Hungary’s previous prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a consistent opponent of Ukraine’s EU membership. His successor, Péter Magyar, did not object to launching the talks but insisted that the phrase “as soon as possible” be removed from the conclusions regarding Ukraine’s accession.
Last week Magyar said Hungary “does not consider it a good idea” to open all six negotiating clusters at once. He cited two reasons: “Partly because the ink on the documents for the first cluster has not yet dried, and partly because it would send the wrong signal to the Western Balkan countries: Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, that have been working for many years toward joining the European Union.”
The debate over the terms of Ukraine’s future membership, and of Moldova’s bid, which is procedurally tied to it, has been under way within the EU for a long time. Kyiv is pressing for an accelerated path, but according to the Financial Times that scenario was not backed by France and Germany. Berlin, for its part, has proposed granting Ukraine the status of an “associate member,” under which it would take part in meetings of EU ministers and leaders but hold no voting rights and no “automatic access” to the bloc’s common budget.
La résistance de Budapest montre que le changement de Premier ministre en Hongrie n’a pas levé le principal obstacle à l’élargissement : la règle de l’unanimité permet toujours à une seule capitale de freiner l’ensemble du processus, alors même que les 26 autres États sont prêts à avancer.
