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The European Union and Kyiv have drawn up an action plan to propel Ukraine on its path to EU membership despite official talks being blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, framing the move as essential to provide Kyiv with future security guarantees.
“We see the membership of Ukraine in the EU as the political arm of the European security guarantee for Ukraine,” the bloc’s enlargement chief Marta Kos said on Thursday from an informal ministerial gathering in Lviv, Ukraine, adding that accession will be “central to make any peace settlement sustainable.”
The 10-point plan, outlined in a joint statement released by Kos and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka, will see the EU executive bypass Hungary’s political veto on the official opening of accession negotiations — a step that requires the unanimous approval of all 27 EU leaders.
Ukraine will informally proceed with the reforms it’s expected to implement with support from the Commission, allowing technical negotiations to continue despite Budapest’s entrenched opposition.
“We are now frontloading all the technical work and that means that even though it’s formally still blocked (…) Ukraine is still able to move on,” Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s EU affairs minister told reporters. “There cannot be a blockade for eternity, it has to be lifted.”
An EU official said it was important to “not lose time” and “get Ukraine closer to the finish line” so that the country is more advanced when the political consensus on its accession is there.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has injected newfound urgency and political weight to a historically dormant policy of EU enlargement, with Moldova and Ukraine made official candidate countries swiftly in the wake of the invasion.
Orbán has so far resisted calls for him to lift his veto, saying he opposes Ukraine’s accession while Russia’s full-scale invasion is ongoing.
The plan follows informal talks between EU affairs ministers representing all member states except Hungary in Lviv on Thursday, during which they outlined to Ukrainian counterparts the progress they expect to see in the coming year.
Plan to support Ukraine’s fight against graft
The 10 points outline the steps Kyiv will need to take to bolster the rule of law, further clamp down on corruption, and strengthen the judiciary over the coming year, as part of the reforms required to be considered for EU membership.
The plan places an emphasis on the fight against corruption, considered a priority after the Ukrainian government tabled, and then withdrew, a new law undermining the independence of two anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, over the summer, sparking a sharp rebuke from the EU executive.
Under point one of the plan, Ukraine vows to prioritise “strengthening the independence” of both bodies and “protecting their jurisdiction from circumvention and undue influence,” as well as “expanding the jurisdiction of NABU and SAPO to cover all high-risk positions based on the available independent assessment.”
Kyiv also commits to adopting an anti-corruption strategy and state anti-corruption programme by the second quarter of next year.
The Commission recently warned Ukraine about backsliding in efforts to combat corruption.
An investigation is also currently underway into into alleged high-level kickback schemes involving Ukraine’s nuclear energy body Energoatom, which prompted the resignation of Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff.
The plan comes at a critical moment for Kyiv, as it faces mounting pressure from the US to swiftly sign a peace deal with Russia amid uncertainty over its future funding.
According to media reports, a revamped 20-point peace plan for Ukraine, presented by Zelenskyy to the White House overnight, proposes EU membership for Ukraine by 2027.
