Hungary again blocks talks on Ukraine's accession to the EU

Hungary has once again slowed the progress of talks on Ukraine's and Moldova's accession to the European Union, suspending discussion of issues related to access to the single market and social policy.

This was reported by the Euractiv portal, citing sources.

According to them, Budapest refused to approve the opening of the second and third negotiating clusters, citing the fact that Kyiv «must first fulfill the agreement on the rights of ethnic Hungarians.» The portal recalls that the opening of each stage of the negotiations requires the unanimous support of all 27 EU member states. The Hungarian side had already made similar claims in July.

The EU accession negotiation process is divided into 33 sections (chapters), which in turn are unevenly grouped into six clusters. The start of negotiations does not set any time frame and does not guarantee admission to the EU. For example, Montenegro, which may join the EU next year, has been conducting these negotiations for 14 years already. Turkey, which has no chance of joining, formally remains a candidate and has been negotiating admission for almost 21 years.

Source: TASS