Hungary veto: EU officials 'waiting for Orbán to leave' to advance Ukraine talks
European Union sources told DW that EU officials are waiting for a change of government in Hungary, after no decision was reached in Brussels on how to overcome Budapest's veto on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
“There are no ways to overcome Hungary's veto at present,” one interviewee stressed.
The opening of negotiation clusters for Ukraine's EU accession will likely only be possible after Hungary’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for April 2026, following which the party of current Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could lose power. A high-ranking European official mentioned this, speaking on condition of anonymity to Deutsche Welle (DW) on Friday, September 26.
Hungary is blocking the opening of the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine on EU accession, even though Kyiv has fulfilled all the necessary conditions. “For the time being, there is no way to bypass Hungary’s veto,” the source stressed, recalling that the decision to open negotiation clusters with a candidate country for European Union membership requires unanimity.
Although discussions were held within the EU about changing this rule and adopting decisions by qualified majority, it has all remained at the level of discussion.
The only “realistic solution” is for all the technical work to be done “in advance,” so that when Mr Orbán leaves office, “we are ready to advance quickly in negotiations with Ukraine,” the DW source stated.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
