Hungary halts final EU accession chapters for Ukraine and Moldova
Budapest blocked the opening of Cluster 4 and Cluster 5 at a November 10 COELA meeting, citing a need for further document review.
By Matthew Qureshi ·
Hungary stopped the European Union from opening the final two negotiation clusters for Ukraine and Moldova on November 10. During a session of the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU, known as COELA, Budapest refused to endorse the screening results. This refusal halted the process for both candidate countries simultaneously.
The stalled sections are Cluster 4, which covers the Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity, and Cluster 5, which focuses on Resources, Agriculture, and Cohesion Policy. These are the only two clusters remaining in the current negotiation frameworks for both nations. Without agreement on these specific areas, the comprehensive negotiation process cannot be fully completed at this time.
An EU diplomat said the Hungarian position remained unchanged. The official indicated a consistent stance against moving forward with these specific chapters. The blockage affected Moldova as well, as the screening results for the same clusters in that country were not approved during the same meeting.
Vsevolod Chentsov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro Atlantic Integration, explained the delay on November 4. He stated that Hungary is not presenting new demands concerning the rights of national minorities. Instead, he said the government in Budapest attributes the postponement to the necessity of conducting a further examination of the documents related to the relevant negotiating chapters.
The European Commission recently noted that Moldova is maintaining a strong pace of reforms. The body said Moldova has the potential to catch up with Montenegro, which is expected to conclude its EU accession negotiations this year, as early as 2027 if the current momentum continues. This assessment suggests that substantive reform efforts in Chisinau are progressing well despite the procedural hurdle in Brussels.
Recent official EU roadmaps acknowledge that Moldova has overtaken Ukraine on the path to accession. These documents recognize a shift in the relative positions of the two countries. Reports suggest Ukraine may be losing ground relative to other candidate nations in the European race.
The formal opening of chapters requires consensus among member states. Hungary’s continued stance on the document examination for Clusters 4 and 5 is the primary factor preventing the finalization of the negotiation frameworks for both Ukraine and Moldova.
