EU confirms it may separate Ukraine and Moldova on their path to membership
The European Union is considering continuing Moldova's accession process separately from Ukraine amid Hungary's opposition to negotiations with Kyiv.
Source: EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Kos said she couldn't rule out a "decoupling" of the two countries on the path to EU membership as early as June, when several enlargement-related decisions are expected in Brussels.
Her statement comes against the backdrop of Hungary blocking progress on Ukraine's accession talks.
"We are discussing already with the member states what to do because no member state is against starting to open the first cluster [of accession chapters] with Moldova," Kos noted.
She added that Hungary is the only EU member state opposing Ukraine's accession.
Until now, Moldova and Ukraine had moved forward together in the EU accession process and were viewed as moving in tandem.
Last year, the EU's 27 member states gave the green light to start accession negotiations with both candidate countries, but no chapter of the negotiations has yet been opened.
Talks with Ukraine are being blocked by Hungary, which has raised a number of obstacles, including demands for expanded rights for the Hungarian minority.
Kos believes there is even a possibility that Moldova could become an EU member before the end of her mandate in 2029.
She noted it would be considered a "failure if we will not get any newcomers into the EU in the times of the present European Commission".
"Moldova is really a good student in the whole group. They really feel this historical moment," Kos added.
She expressed regret that Hungary is politicising Ukraine's accession process. Budapest has even organised a consultative poll on Ukraine's EU membership, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has publicly voted against it.
"Ukraine has done enough, I can tell you from my personal experience because I was facilitating the dialogue between Hungary and Ukraine," Kos said.
She stated that Hungary has presented many demands for negotiation, and Ukraine is ready to fulfil them all.
"But this is not enough for Hungary," Kos concluded.
Background:
European Pravda sources recently reported that if Hungary continues to block the opening of negotiation clusters for Ukraine's EU accession, Moldova, which began negotiations at the same time and is also ready to open Cluster 1, Fundamentals, may do so earlier.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine had achieved the fastest pace of the accession process among all of the countries that have ever sought to become an EU member.
The European Commission said that the process of screening (checking the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law) within the framework of accession negotiations with Ukraine is proceeding at an unprecedented speed for the European Union.
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