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Hungarian officials have signaled that they are ready to drop their opposition to Ukraine's candidacy for membership in the European Union, paving the way for the launch of formal negotiations for Moldova as well.
Hungary has signaled it will drop its long-standing opposition to Ukraine’s European Union membership process, allowing Ukraine and Moldova to begin formal negotiations to join the bloc in the coming days, four diplomats familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.
The opening of the first negotiating group, known as a "cluster", a formal step on the path to membership, is expected to take place during an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg on June 15, according to three of the diplomats.
Kiev and Chisinau applied for EU membership at the same time, meaning that Moldova's process can only advance if Ukraine's also moves forward.
Under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Budapest strongly opposed Ukraine's membership. However, the new Hungarian leadership has privately signaled a willingness to lift the veto, following a meeting on Monday between Ukrainian and Hungarian experts on the issue of the rights of the Hungarian minority living in Ukraine.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the meeting, said that this meeting has helped bring the positions of the parties closer together.
A Hungarian official stated that a final decision has not yet been made on opening negotiation chapters with Ukraine.
"Negotiations are ongoing. No agreement has been reached yet," said the official, who also asked to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of the discussions.
During Monday's meeting, the Ukrainian side presented guarantees on how to address most of the concerns included in an 11-point plan, originally prepared during Viktor Orbán's government, one of the diplomats said.
Although not all of Hungary's demands can be met immediately, the diplomat stressed that Budapest's approval is not conditional on the adoption of new legislation in Ukraine.
Ukraine's accession negotiation process received a new impetus after Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar visited Brussels and held meetings with senior European Union leaders to discuss unblocking 16.4 billion euros in frozen EU funds for Hungary, another diplomat said.
According to him, EU ambassadors are expected to finalize their position on the opening of the first negotiating group for Ukraine and Moldova by the end of this week, after Ukraine presents its plans for internal reforms and measures to address the issue of minorities.
Subsequently, European Union member states are expected to officially approve the opening of this negotiating group during the intergovernmental conference on June 15.
The opening of negotiating groups requires the unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states. Any member state has the right to block the process at any stage, whether by opposing the opening of the first negotiating group or during subsequent steps on the path to membership.
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