BUDAPEST U BRATISLAVA JŻOMMU S-SWAR

Thursday, 03/09/2026, 00:21.

Hungary and Slovakia used the EU's unanimity rule to hold up decisions most other governments wanted — within 24 hours of each other. Hungary blocked Ukraine's next accession step on Monday. Slovakia refused to renew the blacklist of sanctioned Russians on Tuesday. Under the treaties, foreign policy and enlargement still require all 27 governments to agree. That gives one capital the power to stop a decision even when the other 26 are ready to move. A day after eleven countries called for an end to obstructive vetoes, Budapest and Bratislava supplied the case study.

Hungary froze Ukraine's path towards single-market negotiations. Budapest did not reject Ukraine's EU bid outright. It stopped the Council from turning the European Commission's technical approval into real talks on the free movement of goods, workers, services and capital (European Pravda). Ukraine had cleared the screening stage. Hungary blocked the political gate that comes next.