All negotiation clusters for Ukraine's EU accession should be opened by year-end – Stefanishyna

She stated this on national television, Ukrinform reports.

"All negotiation tracks must be opened by the end of this year. This is now a political issue. It's about negotiations, commitments, and coordinated work by the parliament and the government. Currently, nearly 4,000 people are engaged in the negotiation teams across all areas, so this condition remains unchanged. We are now only discussing the date for launching the first fundamental block of negotiations. That is the key political decision," Stefanishyna said.

According to her, subsequent steps will involve more technical decisions.

"With Denmark assuming [the EU Council's presidency as of July 1], we've agreed that this will be ensured once the first negotiations begin. [...] We are confident that by January 1, all clusters will be open," Stefanishyna said.

She also stressed that opening negotiations does not require unanimous consent from all 27 EU member states.

"That was the practice in previous years. Today, none of the EU's core documents requires unanimous approval for opening negotiations. Therefore, we are working within that framework. The point raised by the newly elected Polish leader — that this is the beginning of negotiations, not a final political decision on accession — is entirely logical," she said.

Stefanishyna added that Hungary's attempts to block the opening of negotiation clusters served as an impetus to exploring alternative solutions.

"It became clear that neither the EU's founding treaties nor decisions by the European Parliament or European Council mandate unanimity for opening negotiations. Unanimity is only required when closing negotiations or specific chapters," she said.

Negotiations will cover nearly 35 chapters, ranging from specific sectoral standards, such as those in agriculture or legal frameworks, to foundational elements of statehood for a country aspiring to EU membership.

"We have fulfilled all conditions required to open half of our negotiation tracks, starting with the fundamentals of EU membership. And we are ready to open all three clusters in July, or at least begin with the first one alongside Moldova," Stefanishyna said.