Ukraine and the EU expect to begin accession negotiations no later than June

Ukraine and the EU expect to begin accession negotiations no later than June

Both the Ukrainian side and Brussels are working to ensure that the official opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU takes place no later than the end of June - when Belgium’s presidency of the EU Council ends and Hungary’s six-month presidency begins.

There are two scenarios regarding the timing of an intergovernmental conference to launch accession negotiations, according to a senior EU official who spoke on condition of anonymity. One of them is if the negotiating framework is approved in March, but it is considered unlikely.

“A more realistic (scenario) is that the intergovernmental conference will take place in June, after the European elections,” the source noted.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, in a comment to EuroPravda, also emphasized that negotiations on Ukraine’s accession should officially begin in the first half of the year, that is, before the end of Belgium’s presidency of the EU.

“We expect that the approval of the negotiating framework and the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession will take place within the framework of the Belgian chairmanship in accordance with the agreements reached,” she said.

The link to the end of June as the deadline is not accidental, because Hungary’s presidency of the EU begins on July 1.

Brussels believes that Hungary itself does not want the issue to be postponed during its chairmanship: Orban may not have ways to slow down the convening of the conference and postpone the opening of negotiations with Ukraine to 2025, because he has no allies in this matter, and holding Such an event, chaired by Hungary, could look like a political humiliation for Budapest.