EU, Ukraine start formal accession talks after Orban delay
The EU has formally opened the first stage of accession negotiations with Ukraine. This comes two years later than planned, as former Hungarian PM Viktor
The EU has formally opened the first stage of accession negotiations with Ukraine. This comes two years later than planned, as former Hungarian PM Viktor Orban was blocking the process prior to his election defeat. The EU and Ukraine on Monday formally opened the first stage of accession negotiations with a view to Kyiv one day joining the 28-member bloc. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 turbocharged an idea that at one point was contentious among the country's electorate. Why had Hungary's former government delayed the process? For the past two years, the process had been on hold. That's because starting it requires unanimous approval from existing EU governments, and Hungary's former Prime Minister Viktor Orban was blocking the move. The talks had already started on a technical level despite the Hungarian obstruction. Hungary's new prime minister, Peter Magyar, recently announced that he had reached an agreement with Ukraine on measures to strengthen the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minorityin the country. Magyar had made such an agreement a condition for lifting Budapest's veto of Ukraine's EU accession talks. What did European and Ukrainian leaders say about the move? "Today, we are taking a historic step towards Ukraine's future within the EU, by opening formal negotiations for its accession. A united and determined G7 is essential to help bring this war to an end and achieve a just and lasting peace," European Council President Antonio Costa wrote online as he attended the G7 summit in Evian, France.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that opening the first so-called negotiating cluster was a "huge step forward," praising Ukraine for the progress made so far on reforms on issues like corruption and the rule of law. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday's development "sends a clear message that Europe's progress cannot be stopped." He said he was happy to be speaking about the issue from Chisinau in Moldova, which took the same step on Monday, prior to moving on to the G7 summit in France as a guest. "Our neighborhood with Moldova is strong. And we support each other, and we are moving toward the EU together – and we will get there together," he said. What happens in the accession process? In order to join the EU, prospective members have to demonstrate compliance with the bloc's standards in multiple areas. These are split across six so-called "clusters" that make up a total of 33 chapters. Another two chapters are negotiated separately, outside the six clusters. The first cluster to open and the last to be closed is always the one labled "fundamentals," which includes core issues like judiciary and fundamental rights, economic criteria and the functioning of democratic institutions. EU members must all agree that all requirements have been met, and then the EU's executive, the European Commission, and all member states — as well as the European Parliament — must agree to closing the negotiation process.
The BriefWire