Ireland Aims to Open All Remaining EU Accession Clusters for Ukraine by Year-End

The European Union will open two additional negotiation clusters with Ukraine during an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg on October 13, signaling progress in Kyiv's journey toward potential membership, according to UATV English. This development came about following Ukraine's parliament's approval of legislation that grants ethnic Hungarians certain rights, such as the right to use their native language in schools, which facilitated an agreement with Hungary and lifted its long-standing veto.

Ahead of this intergovernmental conference, European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, outlined her vision for the future enlargement of the bloc. She emphasized the need to accelerate and reform the accession process, prevent democratic backsliding, and reduce the risk of individual countries obstructing progress. Furthermore, she advocated for gradual integration, enabling candidate countries to engage in selected EU programs and meetings before officially joining the organization.

Ukraine will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Vsevolod Chentsov, and Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Taras Kachka. The conference, scheduled to last around 90 minutes, is expected to be mainly formal, as the remaining issues have already been settled. Commissioner Kos commended Ukraine's reform efforts, despite Russia's full-scale invasion, and commented on U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Ukraine to hold elections.

She highlighted that the decision rests with Kyiv and that elections should occur once the necessary conditions are in place, stressing that the U.S. position would not hinder Ukraine's accession to the EU. Furthermore, she praised Ukraine for continuing reforms while fighting for its survival, noting that no other country faces such challenges while simultaneously implementing reforms and participating in the accession process.