On June 15 in Luxembourg, during the second intergovernmental conference, the EU officially opened its first negotiation cluster "Fundamentals" with Ukraine and Moldova. Ukraine was represented at the conference by Vice Prime Minister for European Integration Taras Kachka, who officially confirmed Ukraine's agreement to meet benchmarks — a formal signal of the start of the negotiation process.
What was opened — and what it means in practice
The "Fundamentals" cluster is not a single chapter, but five: judiciary and fundamental rights (Chapter 23), justice, freedom and security (24), public procurement (5), statistics (18) and financial control (32). According to the EU negotiation structure, this cluster opens first and closes last — meaning it remains open throughout all negotiations on all other topics.
The EU Council set interim criteria for the entire cluster and separately for chapters concerning rule of law. These must be met before moving to the final stage and temporary closure of the relevant chapters. Key requirements concern the independence of anti-corruption bodies, reform of judges' and prosecutors' appointments, and roadmaps for public administration reform.
"Today we are opening negotiations on the backbone of the accession process: the rule of law, justice and fundamental rights"
European Commission, statement after cluster opening
The Hungarian lock inside the door
The unblocking occurred after Hungary's new Prime Minister Péter Magyar lifted the veto on June 3, which his predecessor Viktor Orbán had held for 17 months. However, lifting the veto was accompanied by a bilateral agreement between Budapest and Kyiv on the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians — in education, public administration, symbolism and culture.
Critically important: this agreement is not simply recorded separately — it is embedded directly in the first cluster as a "joint milestone." Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó explained the mechanism directly before the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg.
"If Ukraine does not fulfill this agreement or fulfills it incompletely, the accession process within this cluster will automatically stop"
Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Foreign Minister
To fully understand the scale: opening and closing each negotiation chapter requires unanimous support from all 27 member states. Hungary retains the right of veto at every subsequent step.
Pace: from symbolism to five clusters in a month?
After opening the first cluster, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that the Commission expects the remaining five clusters to open by the end of summer — and expressed hope for a "super Tuesday" in July. Kachka, for his part, even suggested a June start for all clusters: "It's an ambitious goal, but European colleagues are increasingly talking about it openly."
Ukraine completed its internal procedures on May 14: the government approved roadmaps on rule of law and public administration, as well as negotiation positions. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, this was a "key milestone." The screening of all 35 negotiation chapters — the fastest in EU enlargement history — was completed in September of last year.
- 6 clusters, 33 chapters — full scope of negotiations
- Cluster 1 "Fundamentals" — opened June 15, 2026, closes last
- Agreement with Hungary — embedded in cluster as automatic stop mechanism
- Expected timeline for remaining clusters — July–August 2026
Zelenskyy addressed conference participants from Chișinău — symbolically: alongside Moldova, which opened the same cluster on the same day. "We have worked persistently to reach this moment," he said.
Declaration or obligation?
Opening a cluster is not membership and not even a guarantee of its rapid progression. It is a fixation of the starting position: Ukraine has taken on specific benchmarks, the EU has taken on the obligation to assess them. There is no enforcement mechanism by the EU in the document — there is a stopping mechanism by Hungary.
The question that will determine real momentum: if Ukraine meets Hungarian conditions on minorities, but related reforms — anti-corruption, judicial — stall under wartime pressure, will Brussels have enough tools to maintain the pace without another veto from one of the 27?
