Hungary has successfully influenced the European Union summit declaration by removing references to the expedited accession of Ukraine to the bloc. This decision was reportedly spearheaded by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Szijjártó.
Szijjártó stated that he personally intervened to eliminate the clause regarding Ukraine’s accelerated membership from the final declaration, describing the process as challenging. He noted, “For the first time in a year and a half, there may be a concluding declaration accepted by all member states.”
In addition to this, Budapest has expressed reservations about the opening of further negotiation clusters related to Ukraine’s EU membership. It appears that other member states share similar concerns.
“We have reservations about opening all other negotiation chapters after the first cluster is initiated. We are not alone in this; other member states are voicing the same sentiment. We advocate for an accession process based on merits and results,” Szijjártó was quoted as saying by Euronews.
An unnamed diplomat revealed that Szijjártó and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a brief face-to-face conversation in Brussels during the summit. Zelenskyy expressed optimism that Hungary would support the opening of the remaining negotiation clusters for EU accession sooner than anticipated.
Hungary has successfully removed the mention of expedited EU accession for Ukraine from a recent summit declaration, a move led by Prime Minister Péter Szijjártó. The Hungarian government has also raised concerns about the progression of Ukraine's EU membership negotiations, aligning with the views of other member states.