EU races to start Ukraine talks before Hungary's July presidency

EU countries want to speed up accession talks with Ukraine. They fear that when Hungary takes over the presidency of the EU Council on July 1, they will torpedo this process. "That's what we get for putting the fox in charge of the henhouse," stated one of the European politicians quoted by the Politico portal.

Politico reported, "The EU and Ukraine want to launch accession talks before Hungary takes over the Council presidency on July 1." The government in Budapest opposes the start of accession negotiations with Kyiv, although it has not formally blocked them.

According to information provided by the portal's sources, the Belgian presidency plans to begin talks with Ukraine in late June.

"While the Commission’s latest report on Ukraine highlighted some reforms that Kyiv still needed to do before talks could begin, officials say Ukraine has now done most of its homework," writes the portal.

EU countries want a rapid start to talks with Kyiv. They fear that the Hungarian EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, may nonetheless delay the entire process.

"That’s what we get for putting the fox in charge of the henhouse," said one of the EU diplomats, quoted by Politico.

In early May, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, announced that one of the priorities of the Hungarian presidency would be to accelerate the community's enlargement process.

Hungary desires to speed up the accession process for the Balkan states, Georgia and Moldova but criticizes the idea of starting negotiations with Ukraine.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated in December that Hungary and the European Union do not want Ukraine's rapid accession.