In a renewed effort to speed up its EU accession process, Kyiv is calling on Brussels to open all of Ukraine’s negotiation clusters in June, ahead of the previously indicated July timeline.
“We believe that all six clusters can be open already in June,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka told Euronews in an exclusive interview. “Our timeline is that we are already behind the deadline.”
Kachka's remarks come after European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said the first negotiation cluster could be opened in June during Cyprus’ rotating EU presidency, with the remaining five to follow by July once Ireland takes over the role.
Negotiation clusters are tied to key reform areas required to align with EU standards, ranging from the rule of law to judicial reform. Each set of benchmarks must be met by a candidate country, with final approval requiring unanimous agreement from all 27 EU member states.
Although Ukraine is technically ready to begin the process, progress has been stalled by Hungary’s veto policy under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
