Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union progressed closer towards reality on Tuesday with EU affairs ministers formally approving the opening of Cluster 6.
“We have today reached another milestone on Ukraine’s EU membership journey by opening another key negotiating cluster,” Irish Minister of State Thomas Byrne said following the announcement.
“This is a testament to the country’s commitment to move forward as quickly as possible.”
Ireland holds the rotating EU Council Presidency and speaks on behalf of the 27 EU member states as part of the discussions.
Cluster 6 encompasses external relations and is considered a core theme within the EU accession negotiation framework.
At a press conference following the announcement, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said it also covered security and defence policy.
“The case for Ukraine’s EU membership is very strong” in these areas, she said, speaking alongside Byrne and Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Taras Kachka.
“With their resistance to Russia’s brutal war of aggression, Ukrainians have turned their country into a military powerhouse, with capabilities few other nations can match, particularly in rapidly evolving drone technologies,” Kos said. “Rebuilding Europe’s defence should build on this experience.”
“Ukraine carries more geopolitical weight than at any point in its history.”
“The objective of this Commission is to build an independent Europe that is firmly in charge of its own destiny in a world of great powers,” she said.
“An independent Europe needs a strong, prosperous and stable Ukraine as part of our union. Integrating Ukraine into the EU is a win-win. It will make us more secure, strengthen Europe’s industrial base and reduce strategic dependencies.”
Asked whether successfully closing the security and defence cluster could provide Ukraine with EU security guarantees before full membership, Kachka said the accession process already underpinned deepening security ties.
"The EU accession process is often an invisible foundation for many of the political achievements we already have,” he explained, celebrating what he described as a “major political achievement” in security and defence cooperation with the bloc: including EU funding for Ukraine’s military needs, joint production initiatives, and the EU’s role in coalitions supporting Kyiv alongside member states.
“This is a vast political process built on agreements at the highest level, led and implemented by our president,” he said. “The negotiation process and the accompanying bureaucratic work form the foundation of all these developments."
He added that the cluster covered alignment on foreign policy, the common security and defence policy, and controls on arms and dual-use goods.
“All of this shows that the cluster is the foundation for measures being implemented at the highest political level.”
Cluster 6 is also expected to open for Moldova on Tuesday, with the countries’ EU accession pathways linked.
A range of accession chapters – which are portions of clusters – are also expected to be closed for Western Balkan frontrunners Albania and Montenegro in what has been dubbed an accession “Super Tuesday”.
Ending the impasse
Ukraine and Moldova applied for EU membership following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both countries seeking to bolster their security and defence against Russia.
The news of more clusters opening for Ukraine ends a two-year political deadlock spearheaded by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who repeatedly used his vote in the council to scupper progress.
Orbán had kept Kyiv's accession bid on hold over a dispute concerning the treatment of the Hungarian minority in western Ukraine.
After he was ousted by political rival Péter Magyar at Hungary’s recent parliamentary elections, Ukraine and Moldova's EU membership bids has become one of steady progress, with Cluster 1 opening in June.
It was prompted by Magyar's new government working with the Ukrainian side to resolve the minority issue.
The European Commission considers both nations to be technically ready to open all clusters, which means the next steps depend on the views of the bloc's 27 member governments.
