'No objective reasons' to block Ukraine's EU bid, Brussels tells Orbán
"When a candidate country is held back for no objective reason, despite meeting the criteria, the entire enlargement process loses its credibility," a spokesperson for the European Commission said on Tuesday.
According to Orbán, 95% of almost 2.3 million participants who answered a recent national consultation opposed Ukraine's membership in the bloc. Turnout was roughly half the 5.5 million votes recorded during national elections in 2022.
Orbán cited the results when doubling down on his veto, saying during the summit: "I came here with a strong mandate."
"If a member of the European Union is in a war, it means that the European Union is in the war, and we don't like it."
On Tuesday, the Commission replied by underscoring Ukraine's readiness to open the first cluster of negotiations, which covers key topics such as democracy, human rights, security, the judicial system and public procurement.
The cluster, known as "Fundamentals", is the first to be opened in the multi-pronged enlargement process and the last one to be closed.
Every step requires the unanimity of all 27 member states.
"On our side, things are really clear: as we speak, Ukraine is delivering on reforms in the most difficult circumstances that one can imagine," the spokesperson said.
"We have always defended a merit-based approach when it comes to accession, and there are no objective reasons in this case to object to the opening of cluster one."
"We really hope that we can still open the first cluster very soon," he added.
The Commission has also positively assessed Ukraine's action plan to strengthen the protection of minorities inside the country, which seeks to harmonise domestic law with European standards to combat discrimination and hate crimes based on ethnic grounds, ensure equal access to public services and promote cultural diversity.
The action plan was designed to assuage Orbán's concerns: his government has often accused Ukraine of violating the language rights of about 150,000 ethnic Hungarians who live mostly in the Transcarpathia region. The two countries had engaged bilaterally to discuss the issue, but the talks suddenly collapsed in May when Kyiv exposed a suspected Hungarian spy network working against Ukrainian interests.
Unconscious decoupling?
Orbán's veto on Ukraine's accession dates back to July 2024, when Hungary took over the six-month presidency of the EU Council and made clear that Kyiv would not open a single cluster for the duration of the rotation.
Officials and diplomats in Brussels scoffed at the position and hoped to make progress after Poland assumed the chairmanship in January. But the Polish presidency came and went, and nothing happened on that front. The new holder, Denmark, has described enlargement as a "geopolitical necessity" and is keen to break the deadlock.
The national consultation, however, has added a new element in the saga and given Orbán a "mandate", as he called it, to maintain the increasingly contentious blockade.
Meanwhile, patience is wearing thin in Kyiv. During last week's summit, a frustrated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his virtual speech to urge resolution.
"What's needed now is a clear political message – that Ukraine is firmly on the European path, and that Europe stands by its promises. Any delay by Europe at this point could create a global precedent – a reason to doubt Europe's words and commitments," Zelenskyy told leaders in the room, including Orbán.
"We are doing our part. It's fair to expect a positive response. So opening Cluster One of 'Fundamentals' in the negotiation process could be more than just a technical step. It would be a political decision that defines Ukraine's future integration with Europe."
At the end of the summit, Ursula von der Leyen voiced her support but without offering any clues on how to solve the months-long dispute.
"Under relentless fire, Ukraine is passing reform after reform. It's impressive," the Commission president said. "Ukraine has delivered – now we must too. Because the accession process is based on merit. And Ukraine merits moving forward."
The impasse is so entrenched that diplomats have begun mulling the idea of decoupling Ukraine's and Moldova's bids. The two Eastern countries applied for membership almost at the same time, shortly after Russia launched the full-scale invasion, and were declared candidates on the same day in June 2022. Since then, they have moved together.
The Commission considers both equally ready to open the first cluster and is waiting for member states to give their unanimous go-ahead.
Orbán has not voiced any reservations towards Moldova, meaning that, technically speaking, it could advance in the negotiations while Ukraine waits for the veto to be lifted. Decoupling, though, is a high-stakes gamble, as it risks leaving Kyiv permanently behind and perpetuating the impression of a broken promise to the Ukrainian people.
"We are not requesting the decoupling of Moldova. It's for the member states to decide if they want to do so," the Commission spokesperson said. "What we want to do is to support Ukraine and Moldovans in the process to prepare for accession."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local France
30 minutes ago
- Local France
France and Spain lead efforts to tax private jets
The two European nations – along with Kenya, Benin, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Barbados plus Antigua and Barbuda – launched a coalition at a UN conference on development financing in Seville to tighten up taxation of the aviation sector, including the prospect of taxes on private jets and passengers travelling in business or first class. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the coalition would 'work toward a greater contribution from the aviation sector' to improve 'climate resilience'. In a statement, France's Élysée palace confirmed this initiative, specifying that it aims to 'improve the mobilisation of national revenues in developing countries and support international solidarity,' with particular emphasis on adapting to climate change. Advertisement The coalition's goal is 'to increase the number of countries applying taxes on airline tickets, including for luxury travel, and to tax private jets based on best practices,' the Élysée's statement continued, while ensuring 'further progress in countries that already have such levies.' The announcement was welcomed by Greenpeace, which urged 'all countries to join and implement the commitments' made by this 'new solidarity coalition' in time for COP30, which will be held in November in Belem, Brazil. 'Flying is the most elitist and polluting form of travel, so this is an important step toward ensuring heavy users of this undertaxed sector pay their fair share,' insisted Rebecca Newsom, head of Greenpeace's 'Stop Drilling, Start Paying' campaign. At COP28 in 2023, Barbados, France, and Kenya launched a working group, with the support of the European Commission, to consider so-called 'global solidarity' levies on polluting sectors such as fossil fuels and aviation. This group, which has since worked on the introduction of specific taxes on private jets and airline tickets, estimated in a report published on June 19th that these measures could 'generate substantial revenues' of up to €187 billion. France already levies an 'eco tax' on airline tickets , which is charged on a sliding scale with higher rates for first class tickets and private jets.
Fashion Network
2 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Green claims: confusion surrounds the EU's anti-greenwashing directive
The EU's 'Green Claim' directive is designed to regulate the sustainability claims made by brands and combat greenwashing. But as the parliamentary debate under way since January was about to end, the European Commission has withdrawn its support for the text. Before specifying its position. After U-turns on the duty of vigilance directive and later on the need to display the environmental score on apparel products, the EU's tendency to back down on its green deal has once again been confirmed. This time, it all started on June 18, with a request from the European People's Party (EPP) to drop the so-called 'Green Claim' directive. The directive originally targeted vague marketing expressions such as 'green product', 'biodegradable', 'climate-neutral' and '100% natural', aiming to force brands to demonstrate the veracity of their sustainability claims. The European Council stated its position on it a year ago, and its approval was eagerly awaited by brands, NGOs and industry associations, including European textile industry association Euratex. On Friday June 20, it came as a surprise when a European Commission representative confirmed, following the EPP's request, its 'intention to withdraw its proposals' for defining the terms associated with sustainability. It was enough to stop short the debate on the directive, which had begun in 2023, despite the fact that a final meeting was scheduled for June 23 between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. A few hours later, the EU Commission clarified its position, saying it is still willing to push forward the directive, but not if it incorporates provisions for micro-companies, as was the case in the text's last draft. There are 30 million such companies active in Europe. This back and forth is consistent with the simplification drive the European Commission has been pushing since January. A politically motivated drive that notably led to a first package of comprehensive measures being presented in March. Measures which included a watering down of the duty of vigilance directive, and which have enraged NGOs while also not convincing companies and retailers.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Polish supreme court ratifies nationalist's presidential vote win
In the country's highly polarised political landscape, concerns had also been voiced over the legitimacy of the court chamber which will issue the verdict. Karol Nawrocki, backed by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, scored 51 percent of votes to win the June 1 runoff election, according to official results -- a major blow for the pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and LGBTQ rights campaigners. Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the candidate put forward by the government, lost out by 369,000 votes in the country of 38 million people. "All of the circumstances clearly demonstrate that Karol Tadeusz Nawrocki garnered more votes than Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski during the second round of the vote," judge Krzysztof Wiak announced after a hearing, also confirming the election result. Prosecutors had alleged that the vote count was falsified in Nawrocki's favour at some polling stations, fuelling calls for a national recount. PiS dismissed doubts about the vote as an attempt to "steal the election". According to the Polish constitution, the Supreme Court had to validate the ballot before the winner could be sworn in at a joint session of parliament -- a ceremony planned for August 6. However, European courts and legal experts have questioned the legitimacy of the Exceptional Supervision and Public Matters Chamber, the Supreme Court body that issued the ruling on Tuesday. The European Court of Human Rights said in 2023 that the Chamber does not fulfil the definition of "an independent and impartial tribunal established by law". Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, who is also the prosecutor general, had asked in vain for all of the chamber's judges to be excluded. Tusk has criticised the chamber, but recognised on Monday that "it is the Supreme Court's responsibility to rule whether an election is valid or not". "It is not possible... for the Supreme Court to be replaced in this matter... by the prosecutor general or the government," the prime minister said. 'Paralyse the Supreme Court' The Supreme Court had received around 56,000 election protests since the second round of voting. Judges have already dismissed, without taking further action, more than 50,000 complaints, many of which were based on protest templates shared on social media. Supreme Court chief justice Malgorzata Manowska criticised the sending of template-based protests as an "operation meant to... paralyse the Supreme Court". Bodnar complained that prosecutors were not given access to all of the 56,000 protests and suggested that the chamber's examination of those could be nothing more than a "facade". Still, the court ordered the results from 13 polling stations to be recounted earlier this month. National prosecutors later said that in some of those polling stations votes were transferred from one candidate to another, mainly in Nawrocki's favour. Government coalition lawmaker Roman Giertych authored one of the protest templates, claiming that votes had been reassigned to Nawrocki and alleging ballot rigging. Giertych and several experts have demanded a national recount and called for the presidential inauguration to be postponed in order to clarify the alleged irregularities. These experts assert that the previous nationalist government and outgoing president Andrzej Duda introduced reforms which have undermined the rule of law in Poland. The reforms have long put Poland at odds with the European Commission, but the victory of a pro-EU coalition in October 2023 parliamentary elections mitigated the conflict. Parliament speaker Szymon Holownia, like other members of the ruling coalition, has so far firmly rejected the idea of postponing the presidential oath ceremony. Independently, Bodnar has ordered a group of prosecutors to examine "irregularities" in the vote counting. © 2025 AFP
