BRUSSELS — The European Union is considering a controversial adjustment to its enlargement rules in an effort to circumvent Hungary’s prolonged veto on Ukraine’s accession bid. Under current procedures, every stage of the process requires unanimity, allowing any member state to stall progress, according to Euro News. For more than a year, Hungary has blocked the opening of Ukraine’s first negotiation cluster, covering democracy, human rights, security, the judiciary, and public procurement.
Budapest has justified its veto by citing the ongoing war with Russia, energy and agricultural concerns, and the treatment of Hungary’s minority in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ran a national consultation, claiming a “strong mandate” to continue obstructing Kyiv.
European Council President António Costa is now exploring a new approach: allowing the opening of accession clusters to proceed by a qualified majority rather than requiring unanimity. This would effectively neutralize Hungary’s ability to paralyze the process while leaving the closing of clusters under the existing unanimous rules.
Costa has discussed the idea during a tour of EU capitals, including meetings with Orbán, and the proposal could be formally raised during an informal EU leaders’ meeting in Copenhagen this week. A senior EU official noted that while achieving unanimous consent to amend the negotiating framework remains challenging, no leader has outright rejected the concept.
The plan would also benefit Moldova, whose accession bid has been informally linked with Ukraine’s. For Kyiv, it would mark a diplomatic victory amid ongoing negotiations for security guarantees. For Chișinău, it would reinforce its European trajectory in the face of recent Russian influence attempts during parliamentary elections.
The European Commission cautiously welcomed the idea, emphasizing that delaying cluster openings for “no objective reasons” risks undermining the credibility of the EU’s enlargement process.
