Hungary turned out to be the only country to oppose sending a letter on behalf of all 27 EU countries to the European Council and the European Commission in support of Ukraine and Moldova's EU membership.
Hungary has stalled a key procedural step necessary for advancing negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the European Union.
According to Politico, citing two diplomats in Brussels, Hungary opposed sending a letter on behalf of all 27 EU countries to the European Council and the European Commission in support of Ukraine and Moldova's membership in the organization. According to the diplomats, Hungary became the only country to oppose this initiative, which requires unanimous approval from all 27 countries and will be discussed again next week.
The Reserved Position of Hungary's Prime Minister
As the publication points out, this move aligns with the reserved stance of Hungary's new Prime Minister, Peter Madjar, regarding Ukraine's EU membership. Although the politician did not oppose opening the first cluster of negotiations for Ukraine, his government insisted on removing the phrase "as soon as possible" regarding the country's EU membership from the written conclusions of the EU leaders' meeting in Brussels last week, one source told Politico.
During a press conference following the European Council meeting on June 19, Madjar confirmed this position, stating to reporters: "There are only six clusters, and we do not consider it a good idea to open them all at once - partly because the ink on the first one has not even dried yet, and partly because it would send the wrong signal to the Western Balkan countries - Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, which have been working for years on their EU accession."
The Not Easy Process of EU Accession
Since 2009, Ukraine has been a participant in the EU's Eastern Partnership program. In 2014, Kyiv and Brussels signed an Association Agreement. In February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada legally enshrined Ukraine's course toward EU membership in its constitution.
Ukrainian authorities submitted their official application for EU membership on February 28, 2022, and the same year Ukraine received candidate status for EU accession. On March 24, 2025, the European Commission stated that at the current pace of reforms, Ukraine could join the EU by 2030.
On June 15, 2026, EU countries unanimously approved the opening of the first negotiation cluster for Ukraine and Moldova's accession, which effectively means a transition from the preparatory stage to practical work on the conditions for future membership. This step had been blocked for many years by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who opposed Ukraine's EU membership. The entire negotiation process is divided into six thematic clusters covering various areas of legislation and policy, reports "Deutsche Welle."
