Hungary has halted Ukraine's EU accession process, according to Stefanishyna.

Hungary has utilized the principle of unanimity in decision-making regarding EU expansion and has blocked the initiation of the negotiation process for Ukraine's accession.

This was reported to European Pravda by the Vice Prime Minister for European Integration, Olha Stefanishyna.

Stefanishyna previously mentioned issues related to the accession during a public discussion at the "Ukrainian Lunch" in Munich. “While we are discussing here, one member state is blocking Ukraine’s accession process to the EU – this happened just yesterday,” the Vice Prime Minister stated, without providing further details.

Later, in the corridors of the Munich Security Conference, she confirmed that this concerns Hungary. 

“Indeed, colleagues from member states informed us that representatives of EU countries were unable to approve an official invitation to Ukraine to open the first cluster of negotiations on EU accession. They claim that Hungary is demanding an expansion of the conditions set for Ukraine,” Stefanishyna explained.

According to the Vice Prime Minister, Hungary is insisting on expanding the list of conditions for Ukraine, particularly by adding a separate plan for the protection of national minorities to the negotiation process. Due to this demand, negotiations are completely blocked, as no further decisions can be made without opening the first cluster, Fundamentals, which encompasses the rule of law and public administration reform.

It remains unclear how significant a delay this may cause. Stefanishyna refrained from making predictions. “We hope that the process will be unblocked soon, and in the meantime, we are awaiting details and are ready to explain what steps Kyiv is already taking in cooperation with the Hungarian minority,” she said.

Background. Earlier, Mind reported that a group of EU countries is secretly working on a plan for sending troops to Ukraine.