Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Derek Gatopoulos and Menelaos Hadjicostis at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.
The European Union advanced Ukraine’s membership bid on Thursday by providing a comprehensive reform roadmap during a meeting in Lviv, western Ukraine, despite ongoing opposition from Hungary and the challenges posed by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Some key facts:
• The EU presented Ukraine with reform requirements covering roughly half of the necessary changes during Thursday’s meeting in Lviv, allowing the accession process to move forward despite Hungary’s blockade of formal negotiations.
• Hungary remains the sole EU member blocking formal accession talks, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán citing concerns about proceeding during wartime, Hungarian minority rights in Ukraine, and economic risks.
• Twenty-six of the 27 EU member states support Ukraine’s eventual membership, with Denmark’s European affairs minister stating it is “not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.”
• Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004 as a war-divided island, could provide a blueprint for Ukraine’s accession, and will take over the EU’s rotating presidency on January 1.
• Ukraine must align its administration with EU systems across six “clusters” of reforms, with three clusters covering rule of law, internal market and external relations agreed upon Thursday.
• The reform process is expected to take at least two years to complete, with Ukraine’s pace of implementation now dependent on Kyiv’s efforts.
• If Ukraine joins, it would become the EU’s largest member by land area, overtaking France, and would serve as an agricultural powerhouse countering Russian influence in the region.
READ MORE: EU pushes Ukraine membership bid forward despite Hungary’s objections
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