Originally published on ECFR

One of the main news stories of the past week was the recommendation of the European Commission to start the process of negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union. According to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine has implemented 90% of the reforms expected by the EU. However, the condition is that Ukraine continues to implement the unfinished recommendations in the future. At the same time, Hungary is threatening to block the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine. ECFR alumni Margarita Khvostova and ECFR Visiting Fellow Dmytro Kryvosheiev discussed how Ukraine can overcome these challenges and counteract Budapest’s opposition.

On 8 November, the European Commission supported the start of negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union. This decision is crucial for Ukraine, whose resistance to a full-scale Russian invasion, as well as its post-war future, depend on strong relations with the EU.

Now that the European Commission has agreed to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, Kyiv should use careful diplomacy to counter potential opposition from Budapest.

Out of the three recommendations that the Commission assessed as incomplete, two are in line with EU needs and expectations and are acceptable to the Ukrainian government and civil society:

1. Strengthen the fight against corruption: adopt the drafted reform of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and expand the powers of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), which, despite political obstacles, are likely to be implemented.
2. Introduce an anti-oligarchic law: adopt a comprehensive law on lobbying, which the NAPC has already drafted and will soon be subject to public consultations.

However, the third recommendation has become highly controversial and stands in the way of accession negotiations: complete the reform of the legal framework for national minorities. The Verkhovna Rada has implemented most of the recommendations by adopting some amendments to the law on national minorities. However, amendments to the laws on the state language, media and education still need to be adopted. The President’s Office has already announced that all these amendments will be adopted in November. And that is why Budapest has spoken out against Ukraine’s accession. Instead, it is pushing the Ukrainian government to find a compromise on the rights of some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians to use only their mother tongue in education. All this in exchange for its support during the assessment of Ukraine’s efforts to meet the accession conditions in March 2024.

For Kyiv, this is an unacceptable demand and a highly political issue: in the past, Budapest has been accused of using its veto power in the EU to demand concessions from Brussels on funding. The Congress of National Communities of Ukraine appealed to the Commission, noting that “unfortunately, petty, selfish considerations sometimes push individual politicians, even European ones, to take short-sighted populist steps.”

A diplomatic solution

Ukraine should strive to implement reforms in all areas recommended in the report. There has already been an impressive record of meeting 90 per cent of the requirements since gaining candidate status in June 2022. As for the start of negotiations, Ukraine, as we mentioned above, is on track to implement the first two recommendations.

In order to successfully implement the third, Kyiv must continue to take diplomatic action toward Budapest to maintain its current position on minority legislation. While Ukraine’s Minister for European Integration Olha Stefanishyna has stated that the Hungarian minority is adequately protected and Ukrainian and Hungarian officials are cooperating on legislative changes, the Ukrainian authorities should also engage more actively with national minority representatives to bring these issues to international partners to strengthen diplomatic support.

As for the Commission, it should make efforts to find a compromise with Hungary and other countries that may oppose Ukraine’s integration into the EU to ensure a united European front when deciding on the final accession plan at the European Council summit in December.

High stakes

Faced with a lengthy bureaucratic integration process, unreasonable obstacles risk demotivating Kyiv, especially amid the heated debate over the common agricultural policy.

After 600 days of a full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine’s post-war path depends on progress towards EU membership. As the country fights for its survival – and the security of Europe’s borders – there should be no doubt that such a high price demands a long-awaited reward. Brussels should not give Kyiv any reason to doubt this.