Всеволод Ченцов
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EU opens two more clusters for Moldova and Ukraine on the same day
On 13 October, the EU opened the "Internal Market" and "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth" clusters in Moldova's accession negotiations at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg, bringing Moldova to four of six clusters open. On the same day, the EU Council opened two clusters in Ukraine's negotiations after the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, approved amendments to the education law to lift Hungary's veto.
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Ukraine's parliament adopts minority-education law demanded by Hungary, clearing path to two more EU accession clusters
On 12 October 2026, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada adopted and President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law expanding educational rights for national minorities and indigenous peoples — the change Hungary had demanded in exchange for unblocking two EU accession negotiation clusters. Hungary's foreign minister confirmed Budapest will agree to opening clusters 2 "Internal Market" and 3 "Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth" at a Ukraine–EU intergovernmental conference planned for 13 October in Luxembourg, where the EU's Coreper had already signalled readiness to approve the negotiation positions.
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Hungary lifts block, EU approves screening for Ukraine's clusters 2 and 3
On 7 October, Hungary ended a months-long block on Ukraine's progress in EU accession negotiations, with the EU Council's COELA working group approving screening results for clusters 2 ("Internal Market") and 3 ("Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth"). The same day, EU ambassadors at Coreper agreed to send letters to Ukraine and Moldova requesting their negotiating positions, clearing the procedural path toward a possible Intergovernmental Conference on 13 October at which the two clusters could be formally opened.
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Ukraine's second and third EU negotiating clusters could open October 13, Chentsov says
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Allsevyv Chentsov announced that there are agreements with the Hungarian side to open Ukraine's second and third EU accession negotiation clusters on October 13, conditional on the Verkhovna Rada adopting bill No. 16119. The bill addresses the educational rights of indigenous peoples and national minorities whose languages are official EU languages. An intergovernmental conference between Ukraine and Hungary is scheduled for October 13.
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European Commission approves pre-enlargement reform package including special terms for Ukraine's agriculture
On 6 October the European Commission approved a package of proposals to prepare the EU for future enlargement, including the accession of Ukraine. The package moves toward qualified-majority voting in selected areas, introduces stronger safeguards against backsliding on rule-of-law standards, creates a 'gradual integration' track for four leading candidates, and proposes targeted mechanisms specifically for Ukraine's agricultural sector tied to the opening of Cluster 5. Roadmaps for Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania are due on 28 October, with EU leaders expected to discuss the package at the European Council meeting on 15–16 October.
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EU could open two new accession clusters for Ukraine and Moldova next week, commissioner says
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on 5 October that the EU could open the next two accession-negotiation clusters — 'Internal Market' and 'Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth' — for Ukraine and Moldova as early as next week, at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg. The opening is conditional on Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passing a national-minority education bill demanded by Hungary.
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EU Coreper fails to extend Russia sanctions as Slovakia and France push to delist oligarchs
EU ambassadors meeting on 21 September failed to reach consensus on extending the bloc's individual sanctions regime against Russia, which covers roughly 3,000 individuals and entities including Vladimir Putin. Slovakia and France insisted on delisting sanctioned oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman; a compromise deal that would have extended the regime for 36 months in exchange for delisting them collapsed after Latvia blocked it. Coreper scheduled a further meeting for the morning of 22 September, hours before the midnight deadline at which the entire regime would lapse without unanimous renewal. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha publicly called any delisting unacceptable and a wrong signal to Moscow.
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Ukraine's 2027 budget has $32.6 billion uncovered financing need, finance minister says
Ukraine's Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said the country's 2027 budget faces an uncovered financing need of $32.6 billion — the tightest budget situation since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. He called on European partners to seek additional sources of financing and presented a new proposal to redistribute roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian assets across all 27 EU member states.
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Hungary's Magyar ties support for Ukraine's EU accession to minority rights deal
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on 3 September that Budapest will only back further progress in Ukraine's EU accession talks if a bilateral agreement on Hungarian minority rights in Ukraine is implemented. His comments came as Ukraine said it had met the conditions to open the second and third negotiating clusters, and as the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, unanimously adopted a statement condemning Soviet-era crimes in Transcarpathia.