Ukraine urges EU to start informal accession talks despite Hungary's veto

Oleksandr Ilkov, head of the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, has said that Ukraine expects a response from the European Union on its implemented reforms and calls to begin an informal negotiation process despite the veto by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Ilkov stressed at the Accession Exchange Forum in Kyiv that Ukraine continues technical preparations for negotiations even though Hungary is blocking the formal decision to start them. "By the end of the year, Ukraine will be fully ready to open all six clusters," he asserted, noting that work on Clusters 1, 2 and 6 has already been completed.

"We are approaching a moment where the predictability of our partners is absolutely essential. We are not asking for concessions. Our request is predictability. We need a roadmap where specific progress leads to specific decisions," Ilkov said.

He emphasised that the government remains committed to moving towards EU membership despite the obstacle of Hungary's veto. To this end, he proposed introducing a new element to the accession process to bring Ukraine and the EU closer even before formal negotiations begin – a format of informal consultations through which both sides could advance talks. "We understand that consultations remain informal and cannot replace negotiation procedures," he added.

It is worth noting that until recently, Kyiv opposed "informal" tracks within the enlargement process, insisting on the formal opening of negotiation clusters. Recently, however, signals have emerged that Ukraine is ready to consider the informal path as well.

Earlier, European Pravda suggested that the EU consider a "two-step" approach to launching negotiations. Details are available in the article Getting round Orbán.

It was also reported that the EU is discussing a new model of Ukraine's accession without full voting rights.