Hungary new government revives hopes of unblocking Ukraine and Moldova EU accession talks

After two years of deadlock, the European Union’s enlargement file is showing tentative signs of movement. A change of power in Hungary – with Peter MAGYAR stepping into the prime minister’s role in early May 2026 – has raised cautious hopes in Brussels that the Hungarian veto blocking Ukraine and Moldova could ease.

The chapters frozen for two years

Although accession negotiations with both countries formally began in June 2024, the opening and closing of the 33 policy chapters has effectively been on hold for much of the time since, with Budapest citing the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. EU officials, speaking to outlets including RFE/RL, stress that nothing is certain and that changing the enlargement methodology would itself require unanimity.

New tools under discussion

To guard against future blockages, some capitals – Vilnius among them – have floated the idea of an acceding state, a status that would let the EU acknowledge when a candidate has reached a qualitatively different stage of integration and bring it into more EU programmes earlier. Brussels has also begun preparatory work on an accession treaty with Montenegro and has spoken of 2030 as a conditional, merit-based target for Ukraine.

The front-runners

The Commission groups Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine as its key enlargement partners. Montenegro is seen as capable of closing its negotiations in 2026 and Albania in 2027, while Ukraine and Moldova target 2028 – dates the EU now openly acknowledges after long avoiding them. The first-ever EU-Armenia summit on 5 May added to a busy season for the bloc’s eastern policy. Reframed since Russia’s full-scale invasion as a geostrategic investment in security, enlargement still turns on unanimity, reform and the politics of individual member states.