On June 25, 2024, the European Union officially started negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to join the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, adding: “The road ahead will be difficult, but full of opportunities.”
According to her, accession negotiations are necessary to prepare the country for EU membership, but there will be no “shortcuts.”
At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said that after the accession negotiations are completed, the first steps will be the concluding successful negotiations with the EC and Ukraine’s achievement of compliance with the accession criteria, as well as the decision to sign an agreement on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. The last step will be the agreement being ratified by the EU countries and Ukraine’s acquisition of full EU membership.
In response, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said: “Hungary does not agree with this accession process, but we do not block it and support the start of negotiations.”