Hungary blocking start of EU accession talks with Ukraine – Sikorski

This was stated by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski during a comment to journalists in Brussels on Monday, where the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting took place, Ukrinform reports citing Onet.

“As the presidency, we feel a special responsibility for this (the start of Ukraine’s membership negotiations). Of course, we would like to open one, or maybe even two, negotiation clusters, but unfortunately, the decision is being blocked by our long-time friend and former ally – Hungary,” Sikorski said.

According to him, during the Council meeting, there was a lively discussion that the decision to start negotiations should depend “not on bilateral issues, but on meeting the criteria.”

“I must ritually appeal to the Polish opposition, which maintains close ideological ties with Viktor Orbán’s government and party, and ask them to do something good for Poland and Europe, namely to persuade their ideological allies to unblock these issues,” Sikorski emphasized.

As reported, on March 17, the EU Foreign Affairs Council met in Brussels, with one of the main issues being the continuation of aid to Ukraine and finding ways to end the war to achieve a just and lasting peace. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha participated in the discussion via video conference.

During a press conference in Warsaw, Andrii Sybiha stated that Ukraine is considering various options for resolving the issue of Hungary’s blockade of the negotiation process and hopes to leverage European diplomacy for this purpose.

Hungary refused to block the extension of EU sanctions against Russia, likely after a conversation between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.