Hungary again blocked the opening of clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine

At the first meeting after the summer break of the EU Council's Working Party on Enlargement (COELA) on Tuesday, September 1, Hungary again refused to approve the screening results of clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine, according to Європейська правда.

Hungary did not allow the EU Council to move forward with the opening of clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine.

"Everything remains unchanged", — commented one of the interlocutors of "EuroPravda".

He added that Hungary — as in July 2026, before the summer holidays — agreed to approve only the screening results of cluster 3 for Moldova.

This option, which would actually divide Ukraine and Moldova on the path to the EU, is not supported by the majority of EU member states led by the presiding Ireland.

The next COELA meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 2, but Ukraine and Moldova are not on the agenda.

As reported by "European Pravda", the previous attempt to approve the screening results on July 22, 2026 failed due to Hungary's position, which was ready to give the "green light" only to moving forward with cluster No. 3 and only for Moldova.

As a reminder, on July 14 in Brussels, the 6th negotiating cluster "External Relations" was opened for Ukraine, and the then Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka assured that the opening of the other four clusters is not being postponed until "after summer".

Hungary previously blocked the opening of clusters 2–6 for Ukraine at the technical level, but rather quickly agreed to lift the veto on cluster 6.