EU starts membership talks with Ukraine

Formal start in Luxembourg

The European Union formally opened accession negotiations with Ukraine on June 15 in Luxembourg, marking a major step in Kyiv’s path toward membership while the country remains at war with Russia.

The opening took place at an intergovernmental conference on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers. Ukrainian deputy prime minister Taras Kachka attended the session as the talks began.

Reporting from the launch said the move came after Hungary lifted its veto, removing the immediate obstacle to opening negotiations.

The start of talks does not mean Ukraine is close to joining the bloc. It does, however, move the country into a formal accession process that will now be judged against reforms and legal alignment with EU standards.

What the first cluster covers

The first negotiation cluster focuses on rule of law, the judiciary, anti-corruption and human rights. Those are among the most sensitive parts of the accession process and are treated as core tests of a candidate country’s readiness.

Those areas matter because EU membership requires far more than political support. Ukraine will need to align its laws, institutions and oversight systems with the bloc’s rules across a wide range of policy areas before any final membership decision can be considered.

The opening of the first cluster also sets the agenda for the next phase of the talks. It places the most politically and institutionally difficult reform questions at the center of the process from the start.

The reporting described the launch as a geopolitical step as well as a procedural one. For EU leaders, moving ahead while Ukraine is still fighting Russia underscores how strategically important enlargement has become.

From application to negotiations

Ukraine applied for EU membership after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and later received candidate status. Monday’s opening is the first formal accession negotiation stage after those earlier political decisions.

The process is expected to take years. EU accession usually requires sustained progress on reforms, technical screening and agreement among all member states at each stage of the process.

The research packet does not provide a full timetable for the next chapter openings, but it does indicate that the first cluster will shape the early reform agenda and the pace of the wider negotiations.

The opening also reflects the EU’s broader enlargement policy in Eastern Europe. Moldova was due to launch its own membership talks at the same time, reinforcing that Ukraine’s case is part of a wider regional push.

Hungary’s veto and the broader stakes

Hungary had been the main blocker to opening the talks, according to the reporting. Its decision to lift the veto cleared the way for the Luxembourg meeting and shows how much enlargement still depends on unanimous member-state backing.

That detail matters because it highlights the political fragility of the process. Even when many EU governments support enlargement, a single member state can delay the start of negotiations.

For Ukraine, the launch turns a long-running political promise into a formal track with benchmarks and scrutiny. For the EU, it is a test of whether enlargement can advance during wartime without diluting the standards that underpin membership.

The stakes are also regional. Moldova’s parallel launch suggests Brussels is trying to keep momentum across Eastern Europe while signaling that reform conditionality will remain central.

What happens next

The immediate task is to work through the opening cluster and evaluate progress on rule of law, judicial reform, anti-corruption safeguards and human rights protections.

Further movement will depend on Ukraine’s reform pace and on continued agreement among EU governments. The research packet says the next procedural steps remain to be watched, along with any formal EU statements on timing.

Ukraine’s response and any follow-up from Hungary will also be important to track, along with whether Moldova’s launch is described as part of the same intergovernmental conference.

For now, the main development is clear: the EU has moved from political backing for Ukraine’s membership bid to a formal negotiation process that is likely to stretch over years.