EU summit to approve strong message on Ukraine's accession, Hungary will abstain

At the European Council summit on 26–27 June, EU leaders plan to approve a document with strong messages supporting Ukraine’s progress in EU accession negotiations, particularly its readiness to open negotiation clusters. All EU members except Hungary are expected to sign the document.

According to a senior EU official familiar with the summit preparations, the European Council will approve a document with powerful messages on Ukraine’s EU membership prospects, but Hungary will not sign it.

The source stated in a comment to European Pravda on condition of anonymity that President of the European Council António Costa hopes the conclusions on Ukraine’s accession prospects will include strong messages of support, particularly regarding its readiness to open negotiation clusters. The official added that ideally, all 27 member states would sign, but it appears only 26 will do so.

It was also  recalled that, under current EU enlargement rules, any progress towards accession requires unanimous support from all member states.

However, without Hungary’s backing, Ukraine can continue accession negotiations informally. The official explained that a strong message from 26 states would provide a mandate to continue working informally.

He further noted that António Costa would prefer agreement from all 27 states, allowing Ukraine to formally advance and open the negotiation clusters for which it is ready, but acknowledged that this is the current reality.

As reported by European Pravda, Brussels is developing a scenario for "parallel negotiations" on Ukraine’s accession to the EU to counter potential vetoes by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Read also: "Plan B" for Ukraine's EU accession: how Brussels is preparing to overcome Hungary's veto