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The European Commission expects progress on opening the first EU accession negotiation cluster for Ukraine as early as the end of June, according to Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.
Kos said the key message from Hungary’s new leadership is adherence to equal treatment for all EU candidate countries. She added that she views positively the signals from Budapest, led by Prime Minister Peter Magyar, regarding support for Ukraine’s EU integration.
“I see a very positive signal from the new prime minister, Peter Magyar,” Kos said, according to Liga.net. “He stated that all candidate countries will be treated equally. And of course, we also discussed Ukraine extensively.”
Kos said she plans to urge EU member states to open accession negotiation clusters for Ukraine as soon as possible. The first cluster, known as “Fundamentals,” could be launched before the end of Cyprus’ presidency of the EU Council on June 30, 2026. She also expects progress on the remaining clusters in July.
“We have done significant preparatory work (front-loading), and everything is ready for the formal opening,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka said Kyiv could complete most accession negotiation chapters within 12–18 months and potentially move toward signing an EU accession treaty by 2027. He noted that Ukraine has received 145 EU benchmarks and is currently working with the European Commission across all negotiation areas.
