Hungary again blocks screening results for two clusters in Ukraine’s EU accession talks
On Tuesday, 10 November, at a meeting of the EU Council’s enlargement working party (COELA), Hungary again refused to approve the results of the screening of clusters four and five in the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, European Pravda reported, citing its own EU sources. This approval would have allowed progress towards opening these clusters.
Hungary continues to refuse permission to open clusters four and five for Ukraine.
“No change,” an EU diplomat who spoke to European Pravda said, commenting on Hungary’s position regarding the opening of the last two negotiating clusters.
The results of the screening of clusters four and five for Moldova were likewise not approved.
Clusters four, “Green agenda and sustainable connectivity”, and five, “Resources, agriculture and cohesion”, remain the last two unopened clusters in the EU accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova.
At the same time, as Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vsevolod Chentsov explained on 4 November 2026 that Hungary is not currently putting forward new demands regarding the rights of national minorities. He said Budapest explained the delay by the need to further study the documents for the relevant negotiating chapters.
Meanwhile, the European Commission says Moldova could catch up with Montenegro, which is concluding its EU accession negotiations this year, as early as 2027 if it maintains its current pace of reforms.
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