Budapest again slowed down the European integration of Ukraine and Moldova

Hungary during a technical meeting on Wednesday blocked further procedural steps in the negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU, which will not allow them to begin official negotiations on reforms in the field of the internal market and competitiveness.

This was reported by the Euractiv portal citing diplomats and officials.

According to its data, in the absence of a breakthrough in the negotiations, progress is impossible until September 1, on which the next technical meeting is scheduled.

The European Commission in June, starting negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on the cluster of basic EU values, stated its intention in July to begin consultations on all other clusters.

The EU accession negotiation process is divided into 33 sections (chapters), which in turn are unevenly combined into six clusters. The start of negotiations does not set any time frames and does not provide guarantees of admission to the EU. Thus, Montenegro, which may join the EU in 2027, has been conducting these negotiations for 14 years already.

Turkey formally remains a candidate and has been conducting accession negotiations for almost 21 years.