Hungary signals first cluster of Ukraine's EU accession chapters could open
Hungary has indicated the first cluster of negotiating chapters for Ukraine's EU accession could be opened as soon as next week, after months of blocking the process. The government spokesperson said the compromise package put forward by the European Commission meets Budapest's demands on minority rights.
TRT HaberAt a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday night, government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said the European Commission's compromise package on the rights of Hungarians in Ukraine had been updated in a way that met Budapest's demands. 'The first cluster of chapters, which sets out the foundations of negotiations, can go on the agenda of next week's council meeting,' Mr Kovács said. The cluster covers democratic institutions, judicial reform and public procurement.
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban had vetoed the opening of negotiations for months, citing language rights and education policy for the ethnic Hungarian minority in the Zakarpattia region. Mr Kovács said the amendment to Ukraine's minority-education law passed by parliament last month moves Hungarian into a category that the government regards as 'equivalent to the languages of EU member states'. Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, called the development 'a strong political signal'.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Kyiv that the Hungarian shift was 'an important step'. A full timetable across the 35 negotiating chapters has not been published; the Commission is expected to deliver a fresh assessment package in September on the opening of remaining files. The benchmarking report on Turkey's parallel EU process is due to be published with the same package.
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