An agreement has been reached with the EU for Ukraine and Moldova to be able to start accession negotiations even if Viktor Orbán sticks to his threat to veto such a step, Ukrainian deputy prime minister for European Integration Taras Kachka told the Kyiv Independent newspaper on the weekend.
Kachka said the milestones necessary for EU accession will be recognised with Ukraine even without Hungarian approval, and the EU accession chapters will be opened and closed if the east European country honours them.
During that process attempts will be made to convince Orbán not to use his right of veto. In the meantime, talks can proceed and Hungarian approval would be required only after the Ukrainian EU accession negotiations are closed.
Then the official voting procedure would be held, where Hungary must also say yes as legally the process can only be closed if a consensus is created and all the EU member states give their approval to Ukraine’s EU ac-
cession.
Kachka said a formal vote will be held when Hungary changes its position. This plan is in line with Lithuania’s proposal whereby negotiations could be started with Ukraine and Moldova at a technical level
if, apart from Hungary, the other 26 EU member states support it.
Earlier, the European Commission ex-pressed doubt about bypassing the consensus. Spokeswoman Paula Pinho said a decision with the full unanimity of the 27 EU member states is needed for opening any chapter in the negotiations.
She said the Commission continues to support Ukrainian reforms but the final decision falls into the purview of the European Council – the EU heads of state and government.
Ukraine applied for EU membership on February 28, 2022, with a target date of 2030.