Hungary lifts Ukraine accession veto

EU accession is a long and unforgiving process. At every serious checkpoint, all 27 governments must agree, which gives a small state the same formal veto as Germany or France. Maltese readers know what that means: in Brussels, size does not decide the legal weight of a government’s signature.

Hungary’s new prime minister, Péter Magyar, removed the biggest blockage in early June by ending Budapest’s two-year veto on Ukraine’s membership talks. The road is open again, but only in the procedural sense. Several governments are already preparing to decide how fast Ukraine is allowed to move.

What Budapest's Deal Changes

Magyar came to power after Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party lost its hold on Hungarian politics. Orbán had blocked Ukraine’s accession path since talks formally opened in June 2024 (Council). Magyar chose a reset.

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 already passed Law No. 3504-IX reforming its minorities regime, giving Magyar something concrete to show voters at home (Eurointegration).

Once Hungary withdrew its objection, the EU scheduled an intergovernmental conference for the first cluster of talks. This is the formal meeting where the EU and a candidate country open a negotiation stage. The first cluster covers rule of law and anti-corruption (Democrata).

The legal reason this matters is Article 49 of the EU Treaty. Every decisive step in accession requires unanimity (EUR-Lex, European Parliament). Hungary used that rule for two years. Now that it has stepped back, the machinery can move again.

There may have been another lever in play. In late May, the Commission unfroze €16.4 billion in cohesion funds for Hungary, and within days Magyar lifted blocks on several EU files. Eurointegration noted the tight sequencing. Whether the money, the minority-rights deal, or both drove the decision has not been publicly settled.

Where the Next Brakes Sit

Accession talks are divided into six thematic clusters. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, assesses whether Ukraine meets the standards, but national governments decide when talks open, whether benchmarks are met, and when chapters close (Commission).

That turns a technical assessment into a sequence of political bargains. At the end, every government must ratify the final treaty under its own constitutional rules. Each stage gives leverage to any capital that wants to slow the process, including a small member state if its interests are directly touched.

Three groups of governments are already marking their ground.

Farm subsidies and budgets. France, Poland and Spain are looking at what Ukrainian membership would do to the Common Agricultural Policy, the EU system that funds farm subsidies and rural development. 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 is about 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 has substance, and it also functions as a procedural brake.

Voting rules. Several member states question whether a Union of more than 30 members can still operate when one government can veto major decisions. Their position ties enlargement to reform of EU voting rules. That creates another condition before Ukraine can actually 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). Its reform record is substantial, especially for a country at war.

Still, Magyar has floated a binding referendum on Ukraine’s eventual membership. That means Hungary’s veto could return at the ratification stage, even if the negotiations themselves run smoothly.

Ukraine’s accession path is open again, but every national brake remains in place. For Malta, as for every other member state, enlargement is not a foreign-policy file sitting somewhere in Brussels. It is a question about budgets, voting power and how far a Union built for 27 can stretch before it has to change the way it works.