BRUSSELS
\nSeveral EU countries on Tuesday called for the bloc to start membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in June, but Hungary threatened to throw a spanner in the works.
\nThe 27-nation EU took the landmark step in December of agreeing to open talks on its war-torn neighbor \u2014 and fellow ex-Soviet state Moldova \u2014 joining the club.
\nBut to actually begin the negotiations the bloc\u2019s member states still have to sign off on a formal framework for the process, proposed in March by Brussels.
\nAt a meeting in Brussels, France\u2019s EU affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot called for \u201cthe effective opening of negotiations\u201d before Belgium\u2019s rotating presidency concludes at the end of June.
\nThat statement was echoed by other ministers \u2014 including from Ireland and Sweden.
\nThe push to move Ukraine onto the next step in its quest for EU membership comes amid fears that Hungary, the friendliest country with Moscow in the bloc, could stall progress when it takes over the presidency after Belgium.
\nBudapest has been hostile to Kyiv\u2019s bid to join, arguing that Ukraine is getting pushed ahead in the queue without meeting the required criteria.
\n\u201cThere can be no exception on the basis of political or ideological considerations,\u201d Hungarian minister Zoltan Kovacs said.
\n\u201cThere is very little, if any, progress. Again, I can repeat to you that membership, approval should be a merit based process. No exceptions.\u201d
\nAnother possible hurdle could come from a new right-wing government being formed in The Netherlands opposed to any new enlargement of the bloc.
\nUkraine applied to join the EU shortly after Russia launched all-out invasion in February 2022.
\nStarting the negotiations would put Ukraine still only at the start of what is likely to be a years-long process of reforms before it can finally become a member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS Several EU countries on Tuesday called for the bloc to start membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in June, but Hungary threatened to throw a spanner in the works. The 27-nation EU took the landmark step in December of agreeing to open talks on its war-torn neighbor \u2014 and fellow ex-Soviet state Moldova \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3501],"class_list":["post-408505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-european-union"],"yoast_head":"\n