EU to seek progress on opening final two negotiating clusters for Ukraine on 20 October
The Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA) will discuss the screening results for negotiating clusters 4 and 5 in Brussels on 20 October. This could be the next step towards opening the clusters for Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.
Source: European Pravda's correspondent in Brussels, citing several EU diplomats
Details: The COELA meeting is scheduled to begin at 11:30 Kyiv time on 20 October. Ukraine will be the first item on the agenda, with the meeting set to consider the screening of Ukrainian legislation with regard to Clusters 4 (Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity) and 5 (Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion Policy).
Moldova's screening results for these two clusters will also be discussed.
Ukraine has so far opened four of the six negotiating clusters, and Clusters 4 and 5 are the last two that remain to be opened.
Read also: Hungary's veto is no more. Now Ukraine must catch up with Moldova in the race to join EU
The Ukrainian government expects the two clusters to be opened by the end of 2026 and believes Hungary will no longer block the process.
Vsevolod Chentsov, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, told European Pravda in an interview that Ukraine has now managed to "turn the page" on relations with Hungary, which had previously created obstacles to Ukraine's EU accession.
Background: On 13 October, the Council of the EU officially opened two more negotiating clusters for Ukraine's accession talks. To make this possible, the Ukrainian parliament approved amendments to the law on education to lift Hungary's veto.
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