Source : Hungarian Conservative
Hungary will not block the next technical step towards opening two more negotiating clusters in Ukraine’s European Union accession talks, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing EU officials.
According to the report, Prime Minister Péter Magyar has instructed Hungarian diplomats not to prevent EU working groups from sending letters to Ukraine and Moldova concerning the possible opening of the next two clusters.
The clusters cover the EU’s internal market and competitiveness policies. The move would represent a procedural step rather than final Hungarian approval to open the negotiations.
Hungary’s full political support for opening the new clusters remains conditional on the Ukrainian parliament approving legislation expanding education rights for national minorities at a session scheduled for 12 October, the Financial Times reported.
The rights of Ukraine’s Hungarian minority have long been a key issue for Budapest. Hungarian officials have participated in discussions over the proposed legislation and provided feedback on its provisions.
Ukraine submitted the draft legislation to parliament last week. Hungary welcomed the move, with Foreign Minister Anita Orbán saying consultations between the two countries had preceded the proposal and that Budapest remained interested in achieving tangible improvements in the lives of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia.
EU officials told the Financial Times that passage of the legislation could allow the formal political process required to open the new negotiating clusters to begin before the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels later this month.
An EU official familiar with discussions with Budapest said Ukraine’s path towards EU membership was beginning to take clearer shape.
The planned move follows an agreement between Hungary and Ukraine under which Kyiv would advance legislation on minority rights while Budapest would allow further progress in Ukraine’s accession negotiations. The two sides have sought to implement the commitments in parallel because of the lack of trust between their governments.
If the process goes ahead, the two clusters on the internal market and competitiveness would become the next areas of Ukraine’s accession negotiations to advance. EU member states must ultimately agree unanimously to close accession chapters once the European Commission determines that the candidate country’s legislation meets EU standards.