EU seeks to end Hungary's blocking of Ukraine's membership talks – media
The European Union is discussing ways to prevent Hungary from disrupting the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing informed sources.
“There is only so much member states can take in terms of wilful abuse of the veto,” Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told Euronews on Monday. “We have seen it play out in Ukraine. There are a number of instruments that we can use and we shouldn’t be afraid to use them.”
While unanimity is needed to open and conclude EU accession negotiations, it is not legally required for opening or closing individual chapters in that process, said people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
In a closed-door discussion last week, some member states pushed the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, to explore options to open the first chapter of negotiations despite objections raised by Budapest over the treatment of Hungarian minority communities in western Ukraine, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the people, members believe Budapest aims to torpedo the process with Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s plan to hold a ‘national consultation’ on Ukraine’s EU membership — despite Hungary’s prior approval to open the accession talks in 2023. Hungary only lifted its veto that December once Brussels unlocked EUR 10 billion ($1.1 billion) in EU funds, blocked due to corruption and rule of law concerns.