The EU’s enlargement commissioner has confirmed that Brussels will open accession negotiations with both Ukraine and Moldova “simultaneously and as soon as possible,” despite objections from Budapest over Ukraine joining the bloc.
Marta Kos posted on the X platform on Wednesday that Brussels is open to starting ‘Cluster 1’ of the accession talks with both candidates.
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On April 28, Kos told Rdio Free Europe in an interview the EU could not rule out “decoupling” the two candidates and moving forward with Chișinău’s application while leaving Kyiv behind. This was due to persistent resistance from Hungary’s pro-Kremlin government to Ukraine joining.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Olha Stefanishyna, expressed her opposition to the proposal during a visit to Budapest to try to resolve the impasse.
“This is not a simple dialogue, but Ukraine is determined to find solutions that will unblock the negotiation process,” Stefanishyna was quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda news service as saying. “Therefore, I consider the statements about the possibility of adopting a decision on Moldova (without Ukraine) during my visit to Budapest unconstructive.”
Following her remarks, Commissioner Kos said the two officials had spoken and agreed to move both countries’ processes forward together.
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“A productive call with Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna to reiterate our support to opening Cluster 1 with Ukraine and Moldova simultaneously and as soon as possible,” Kos post on X.
Accession negotiations are divided into six ‘clusters’ with the first being concerned with ‘fundamentals’ including the rule of law, democratic institutions, and public administration reform.
Productive call with @StefanishynaO to reiterate our support to opening Cluster 1 with 🇺🇦 & 🇲🇩 simultaneously and as soon as possible.
Ukraine made remarkable reform progress & the @EU_Commission has given a clear positive recommendation to @EU_Council to move on with Cluster 1.
— Marta Kos (@MartaKosEU) May 1, 2025
Deputy Prime Minister Stefanishyna said on Thursday that Kyiv hoped to open cluster 1 before Poland’s presidency of the EU Council concludes at the end of June.
“A great deal of work has been done by the European Commission and the Polish presidency,” Ukrainska Pravda reported her as saying. “Unfortunately, the process has not yet been unblocked. But the Ukrainian delegation is working here [in Budapest].”
Stefanishyna also said all six clusters would be opened this year.
During talks in the Hungarian capital on April 29, Kyiv and Budapest agreed to hold regular consultations to address bilateral issues.