The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is decided to open the first chapters of access interviews with Ukraine despite the obstruction of Budapest. This was stated on Thursday by the Polish Minister for European Affairs Adam Szlapka, informs TASR according to PAP.
Minister at a press conference after the EU and Ukraine’s Summit in Brussels said that Together with 25 other Member States and the European Commission, Poland is ready to initiate the first block of negotiating chapters. However, this effort is hampered by Hungary.
“As a Presidency, we are working on the expansion of the EU based on the principle that the expansion process is an important element of EU stability policy,” Szlapka said. According to him, talks with Ukraine are doing well, but there are “political difficulties”.
Szlapka explained that The official reason for Budapest is the unresolved issue of the Hungarian minority in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region. In his words, however, it can only be a “excuse” because it is the most pro -European group in Ukraine.
The Minister admitted that the hopes for the opening of the first block of negotiating chapters with Kiev during the Polish Presidency of the EU Council had significantly decreased in this half -year. “Until the end of the Polish Presidency remains 82 days,” He recalled that much more.
Szlapka without detail added that Ukraine and Hungary are expected to conduct bilateral negotiations on the matter.
Ukraine’s accession interviews with the EU are divided into 35 chapters, of which 33 are grouped into six thematic blocks and two will be negotiated separately. The decision to open these blocks requires the approval of all 27 Member States of the Union. The EU formally started access negotiations with Ukraine in June 2024.
