Ukraine and Moldova notched another milestone in their EU accession bids at a technical meeting on Friday, as member states unanimously agreed to advance the opening of another cluster of negotiations.
The move to unlock cluster six (“External Relations”) marks a further step in the two candidates’ accession process, reflecting Hungary’s gradual shift in position following Péter Magyar’s landslide election victory over Viktor Orbán.
Orbán had kept Kyiv’s accession bid on hold for years over a dispute concerning the treatment of the Hungarian minority in western Ukraine.
Magyar’s new government worked with the Ukrainian side to resolve the issue, leading to the long-awaited opening of the first cluster in early June.
The European Commission and Ukraine have pushed to open the remaining five clusters before the summer break to signal political will to advance the accession process swiftly.
Budapest, however, has so far resisted pressure to unlock all remaining clusters with Ukraine within such a condensed period due to domestic political reasons.
Ireland’s presidency of the EU Council, which began on 1 July, has consequently taken a more pragmatic approach, proposing to gradually open one cluster at a time.
The gradual approach appears to be paying off: Hungary agreed, together with the other 26 member states, to open cluster six — covering external relations, foreign policy and security — which is relatively less contentious than other policy areas.
The step agreed on Friday is a so-called screening letter, which formally concludes the analytical examination of a candidate country’s laws against the EU legal framework.
A letter of invitation is set to be endorsed at the next meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday as a non-discussion point, meaning it should pass without controversy.
The EU’s common position to finalise the opening of cluster six is expected to be endorsed on Monday, 13 July, followed by a formal opening at an Intergovernmental Conference the following day.