EU accession talks for Ukraine should continue without regard to Hungary - Costa

Costa made this statement at a press briefing after a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Zakarpattia, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

He said that in any case the negotiation process was ongoing and had to continue, stressing that this path could not be lost. He added that reforms had to proceed, that there was no need to wait for Hungary, and that Ukraine’s future in the EU was certain.

He also noted that, of course, peace in Ukraine must be accelerated.

The President of the European Council said that there was no reason not to continue negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, since the process would take a long time. He added that the war would end before the EU accession talks were completed, and therefore there was no reason to waste time now.

Costa added that two things can be done at the same time now – fighting for peace and moving forward in the very demanding negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

Earlier, Ukrinform reported that European Council President António Costa said that the EU is impressed by how Ukraine is implementing reforms for EU accession amid Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

As reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a bilateral meeting with European Council President António Costa in Zakarpattia. He called today's talks “a very productive conversation,” which took place following yesterday's summit of the Coalition of the Willing in Paris.

As is known, Hungary remains the only EU member state blocking the opening of the first cluster in negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, while the other 26 leaders at the summit on June 26 spoke in favor of such an opening.

Photo: European Union