Hungary Again Blocks Next Step Toward Opening Final Two Ukraine EU Accession Clusters

Hungary has again refused to sign off on the screening results for two remaining negotiating clusters in Ukraine's EU accession talks. The refusal came on Tuesday 27 October at a meeting in Brussels of the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU, known as COELA.

The information comes from EU diplomats familiar with the meeting, cited by European Pravda. One of them said Hungary's position has not changed. Approval of the screening results is a procedural step required before clusters 4 and 5 can be opened.

According to the sources, the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU knew beforehand that Hungary did not plan to alter its stance on moving forward with these two clusters. The topic was nonetheless placed on the working group's agenda for 27 October.

Another diplomat suggested the decision to raise the issue again was driven more by politics than by any real hope of a breakthrough at this particular session. In that view, the move was a way to keep up pressure on Budapest.

Cluster 4 is titled Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity. It covers transport, energy, trans-European networks, the environment and climate change. Cluster 5, Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion Policy, includes agriculture, fisheries, regional policy and budgetary provisions.

These are the only two negotiating clusters that have not yet been opened for Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities are counting on them being opened by the end of 2026.

The latest refusal follows a similar one reported on 20 October, when European Pravda said Hungary had declined to approve the screening results for the same two clusters.

The week before that, on 13 October, the EU formally opened two other clusters in Ukraine's accession negotiations: Cluster 2, Internal Market, and Cluster 3, Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth. To clear the way, the Ukrainian parliament had passed amendments to the law on education in order to lift Hungary's veto.

Separately, German Ambassador to Ukraine Boris Ruge, in an interview with European Pravda, rejected the idea that Ukraine cannot join the EU while the war continues.