President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Berlaymont, the European Commission headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, on Aug. 17, 2025. (Thierry Monasse / Getty Images)The European Union and Ukraine held their second intergovernmental conference and opened the first cluster of accession talks, known as "Fundamentals", in Luxembourg on June 15.The name seems mundane, but the substance is anything but. This cluster is the spine of the whole process. It covers the rule of law, democratic institutions, public administration, and economic criteria, and contains five negotiation chapters: judiciary and fundamental rights; justice, freedom, and security; public procurement; statistics; and financial control.It is the first cluster to open and will be the last to close.From this moment, Ukraine's membership has ceased to be a geopolitical promise and has become a structured negotiation with benchmarks, roadmaps, deadlines, and the discomfort of being judged.The first such conference, two years ago, launched the talks and fixed the EU's negotiating framework. Little has moved on since, and the usual explanation, which is Hungarian obstruction, is largely correct.The blockage is over, Viktor Orban's government having been swept from office in April. Yet the underlying problem remains untouched: the unanimity rule remains in place, open to anyone willing to exploit it.The moment, then, demands urgency. With the window open, the only responsible course is to make up for lost time, and that means opening the five remaining clusters in July. A normal rhythm would have reached the same point in the same time; moving swiftly now simply proves that political blockages can delay enlargement, but they cannot hold it hostage — not when both sides are prepared to move.The opening also changes who carries the most weight.Until now, Ukraine could blame Hungary or the EU's slow decision-making process for the delays. That excuse has now gone. Kyiv has pushed hard for a 2027 target, and now that the clusters are open, the EU can pass the ball back.