EU commissioner for enlargement confident Hungary's veto on Ukraine talks will soon be overcome

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has said she is confident that Hungary's veto on the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine will soon be overcome, after which several negotiating clusters will be swiftly opened.

Kos, who is on a three-day visit to Ukraine, noted in an interview with Ukrinform that the EU has previously managed to find solutions to extremely difficult problems and stated, "Very soon we will solve the problem with Hungary and Ukraine and are going to open fast the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cluster".

She declined, however, to comment on the possible plan to bypass Hungary's veto that European Council President António Costa is reportedly preparing to propose.

"We will see what the decision will be tomorrow [at the EU summit in Copenhagen – ed.]. We could go on, perhaps, in the working group, and then we would need a green light from the Council," Kos said.

Kos also emphasised that, regardless of internal EU dynamics, Ukraine can continue doing its "homework" and increasing its readiness for membership.

"The more reform we do now, the less it will remain to be done once we open cluster by cluster... You don't need to wait for Hungary to do the reforms," she added.

She has also highlighted the record pace of Ukraine's technical work on accession and said Kyiv has completed its "homework" regarding the rights of national minorities.

On 30 September, Ukraine completed the screening process (review of legal compatibility) on its path towards EU membership.