“We now understand clearly that opening negotiations does not require unanimous agreement from all 27 member states,” Ukraine’s Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna told Fakty ICTV in an interview on July 8.
“That used to be the practice in past years, but none of the EU’s foundational documents currently mandate unanimous consent for this decision,” she added.
The Hungarian rebuff came in a post on Facebook later that same day: “It appears that in Kyiv, the interpretation of law is based on wishful thinking rather than reality, since they claim that unanimity is not needed for starting EU accession talks,” said Balázs Orbán, political director to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“We would like to make one thing clear: the European Union is not a summer camp where it is enough to simply fill out an application form. Enlargement is not automatic, and certainly not some sort of geopolitical handout. It is the joint decision of 27 sovereign states by unanimous vote. Full stop,” he continued.
“We will not turn a blind eye to the disenfranchisement of minorities, the threat of the escalation of war and the destruction of the European economy,” Balázs Orbán insisted.
In an interview with conservative daily Magyar Nemzet published on July 7, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov attempted to invoke a mutual grievance over Kyiv’s treatment of minorities to shore up Hungarian support for Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.
“Russia and Hungary are openly speaking out in defense of their compatriots. We can unite our efforts in this regard,” Lavrov said.
Thus far, Hungary has been the most supportive of Russia among EU member states and NATO allies, with its reluctance to wean itself off Russian energy, its recent refusal to renew the EU’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia, and its general antipathy towards supporting Ukraine. Yet, this aversion is precisely what instigated a closer appraisal of the integration process on Ukraine’s part.
“Hungary’s obstructionism has prompted a deeper reassessment of the EU enlargement process,” Stefanishyna explained. “Hungary’s ‘political dumping,’ which undermines the EU’s ambitions, has triggered a thorough analysis and search for solutions.”
Stefanishyna insists unanimity is only required at the later stages of the accession process, particularly to conclude negotiations. “This is why, both because of Ukraine and for broader reasons, there is now a question of stripping Hungary of its voting rights,” she said.
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had earlier suggested both of these options. With Ukraine’s accession not expected for at least a decade, she proposed that negotiations could begin now and a final unanimous approval take place later.
Kallas had also stated that the European Commission may attempt to activate Article 7 of the EU treaty to strip Hungary of its voting rights due to its “failure” to uphold the principles of EU membership.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of July 11, 2025.
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