"In one month, we achieved what hadn't been resolved for 10 years": Ukrainian Ambassador to Hungary reports breakthrough on EU accession clusters

Although four out of six negotiation clusters for Ukraine's EU accession remain blocked, there is a noticeable positive trend in the dialogue with Budapest. This was stated by Ukraine's Ambassador to Hungary, Fedor Shandor, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine. He emphasized that in just one month of work by the expert advisory commission on the so-called 11 issues, progress was made that had been unachievable for nearly a decade. According to him, the parties have already taken concrete steps to resolve problematic issues and establish a full-fledged dialogue, while the pace of work by the Hungarian side was described by the ambassador as "restless": experts are reviewing the agenda, and what is clear to them is immediately sent for approval.

Breakthrough after decades of stagnation

The key marker of progress is the timeline. Shandor recalled that since 2017, the parties had "sat down and solved nothing," whereas in the last month, the expert advisory commission on the 11 issues achieved results that were unattainable in almost ten years. In the ambassador's assessment, this indicates mutual openness to dialogue and a real intention to resolve problematic issues. Specifically: on June 15, Ukraine opened the first of the six negotiation clusters, and in early July, Hungary unblocked the sixth cluster — "external relations" — marking the first serious breakthrough after a long blockade by Budapest. Thus, out of six clusters, two are currently open — the first and the sixth — with four remaining ahead.

What exactly has moved forward

In addition to the clusters, progress is being recorded in related tracks. Shandor emphasized that Hungary has not opposed the introduction of sanctions for a long time — the veto on this front has been effectively lifted. Restrictions on Ukrainian media resources have also been lifted, and the resumption of work of commissions that have not functioned since 2020, 2017, and even 2008 is currently being worked out. The ambassador added that the basic first cluster is open, plus the sixth, and expressed hope that "we will see more pleasant actions this year that will surprise us in a positive sense," while cautioning against "getting ahead of ourselves".

Mood of Hungarian society as a factor

An important context, the ambassador noted, is the factor of the mood of Hungarian society, which must be taken into account in negotiations. Shandor recalled that 2.5 million voters voted for the Fidesz party, meaning that the narratives and appeals of this party worked. Moreover, questions regarding the status of the Hungarian community in Ukraine have been raised for too long, and a huge number of myths were created around the topic of alleged persecution, which in fact did not exist. It is these social and information barriers, he said, that have long slowed down progress, and overcoming them has become part of the achieved progress.

Contradictory data

Here it is important to distinguish between different objects of veto to avoid creating a false impression of a complete lifting of blockades. Ambassador Shandor speaks of a "de facto lifting of the veto" in the context of the sanctions track, work with Ukrainian media, and the unblocking of clusters (the first and sixth). However, on certain financial decisions, Budapest's position may remain hard: in March 2026, according to RFI, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintained a veto on allocating a credit package of €90 billion to Ukraine before the EU summit, despite a number of concessions on other issues. Thus, progress in the cluster and sanctions agenda is not equivalent to the automatic lifting of all forms of blockades: four clusters remain frozen, and individual financial decisions remain a subject of separate bargaining. The difference in versions here is not a contradiction of facts, but a different scope: the veto has been lifted on one set of issues, while on another — it has been retained.

Outlook: four clusters ahead

The result of the current stage can be formulated as follows: out of six EU accession clusters, two are open, four remain blocked, but the trajectory itself has changed from a long-term stagnation regime to a regime of active work by expert commissions. According to the ambassador, the key indicator was not so much the number of open clusters as the speed and quality of dialogue — in one month, what had not been possible for almost a decade was achieved. Further dynamics will depend on whether it is possible to maintain this pace, overcome the remaining socio-political barriers in Hungary, and translate the achieved expert agreements into the format of official decisions on the remaining four clusters during 2026.