EU ambassadors approve opening of sixth negotiating cluster for Ukraine

Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, has said EU member states' permanent representatives have approved the opening of the sixth negotiating cluster of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations, titled External Relations.

The formal decision to open the cluster is expected to be adopted on the sidelines of the EU General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on 14 July.

"Cluster 6 is particularly important in today's global security environment. Joint security and defence policy, trade, humanitarian assistance and development cooperation, bringing Ukraine closer to the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy," Kachka wrote on X.

On 3 July, Hungary agreed to the opening of the sixth cluster of Ukraine's and Moldova's European Union accession negotiations.

Hungary had unilaterally blocked the approval of the screening results for clusters two to six for Ukraine and Moldova within the Council of the EU's working group on enlargement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes Poland and Hungary will not block Ukraine's European integration in the near future.