The European Union formally opened the first stage of accession negotiations with Ukraine on Monday, ending a two-year delay caused by a Hungarian veto.
The talks in Luxembourg, confirmed by a spokesman for the Council of the EU, mark an important milestone on the war-torn country's path to membership.
In the initial phase of negotiations, known as the first cluster, countries must demonstrate, among other things, that their judicial system and public administration meet EU standards.
The accession negotiation process is divided into six thematic clusters comprising a total of 33 chapters. An additional two chapters are negotiated outside the clusters.
The EU formally launched accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in June 2024. However, the opening of the first negotiating cluster with Ukraine was blocked by Hungary under then-prime minister Viktor Orbán.
Hungary's new prime minister, Péter Magyar, recently announced that he had reached an agreement with Ukraine on measures to strengthen the rights of the ethnic Hungarian minority in the country. Magyar had made such an agreement a condition for lifting Budapest's veto of Ukraine's EU accession talks.
