Hungary ends two-year veto on Ukraine

EU accession is a marathon where every checkpoint requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states, which means a single government can hold up the entire field while everyone else waits. Hungary's new prime minister, Péter Magyar, removed the most visible obstacle in early June by dropping a two-year blockade on Ukraine's membership talks. But several governments are already positioning to control the pace ahead.

What Budapest's Deal Changes

Magyar took power after Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party lost its grip on Hungarian politics. Where Orbán had blocked Ukraine's accession path since talks formally launched in June 2024 (Council), Magyar moved to reset the relationship. Budapest and Kyiv announced an agreement on the rights of ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine's Transcarpathia region, covering language, education and cultural protections (Euronews, n-tv). Ukraine had passed Law No. 3504-IX reforming its minorities regime, giving Magyar a concrete achievement to present at home (Eurointegration).

With Hungary's objection withdrawn, the EU scheduled an intergovernmental conference (the formal meeting where the EU and a candidate country open a negotiation stage) for the first cluster of talks, covering rule of law and anti-corruption (Democrata).

This step matters because under Article 49 of the EU Treaty, every decisive moment in accession requires unanimity (EUR-Lex, European Parliament). Hungary had exercised that veto for two years. Removing it lets the enlargement process move again.

Other factors may have mattered. The Commission unfroze €16.4 billion in cohesion funds for Hungary in late May, and Magyar lifted blocks on several EU files within days. According to Eurointegration, the sequencing was tight. Whether funds pressure or the minority-rights deal drove the decision is not publicly settled.

Where the Next Brakes Sit

The accession process is organised into six thematic clusters, and for each one the European Commission (the EU's executive arm) assesses whether Ukraine meets standards, but the power to decide when to open talks, whether benchmarks have been satisfied, and when to close chapters sits with the member states themselves, turning what looks like a technical evaluation into a grinding series of political negotiations (Commission). At the end, every government must ratify the final treaty under its own constitutional rules. Each stage offers fresh leverage to whoever wants to slow things down.

Three groups of governments are already staking out positions.

Farm subsidies and budgets. France, Poland and Spain are focused on what Ukrainian membership would mean for the Common Agricultural Policy (the EU's system of farm subsidies and rural development funding). Without reform, CAP spending would rise by 22–25 per cent, making Ukraine the policy's main beneficiary, according to the Centre for European Reform (CER). For Polish and French farmers, this determines grain prices and subsidy flows on their own land.

Western Balkans fairness. Austria, Croatia and Greece link Ukraine's pace to countries that have waited far longer. Montenegro has been negotiating since 2012; North Macedonia has been a candidate since 2005 (Commission). Austria and Greece have pushed for equal treatment across all candidate tracks (Serbian Monitor). The argument is legitimate. It also works as a procedural brake.

Voting rules. Several member states question whether a Union of 30-plus members can function when any single country can veto major decisions. Their position ties enlargement to changing how the EU votes and decides, creating yet another condition that must be met before Ukraine can join.

The Distance Still to Cover

Ukraine has completed legislative screening for three of its six clusters, according to its parliament's latest report (Rada). The reform record is real, especially under wartime conditions. But Magyar himself has floated a binding referendum on Ukraine's eventual membership, which means Hungary's blocking power could resurface at the ratification stage even if negotiations go smoothly.

Ukraine's accession path is open in the narrowest procedural sense. The EU has promised a finish line while keeping every national brake intact.