Collective European sigh of relief in Cyprus: EU leaders gathered in the Cypriot town of Ayia Napa have welcomed with relief the approval of the 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine and a new package of sanctions against Russia, which, after the lifting of the Hungarian veto, finally allows them to declare mission accomplished. But Brussels does not want to miss the opportunity to capitalize on the momentum created by Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat and the foreseeable end of Budapest’s constant veto on any step in favor of Kyiv, and has urged to move forward at once with Ukraine’s entry into the European family, opening the first round of negotiations to complete the process, although there is no date for it yet.
With the approval of the loan and sanctions, just before the arrival of European leaders in Cyprus —except Orbán, who was absent—. “We have taken two very important steps to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” celebrated the President of the European Council, António Costa.
However, he stressed, more needs to be done: “Now is the time to look forward and prepare the next step. And the next step is to start the first round of negotiations for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union,” he added, accompanied by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who expressed confidence in being able to release the first tranche of the vital loan to support Kyiv and its war efforts against Russia “this very quarter” of the year.
Diplomatic sources estimate that, with everything already prepared —it only remained for Hungary to lift the veto it imposed for months, arguing that Ukraine should reactivate the Druzhba oil pipeline through which it receives oil and which was damaged at the beginning of the year in a Russian attack— it would be possible to deliver the first funds in May or, at the latest, in June, dates that Kyiv is also considering.
A jubilant Zelenskyy, whose presence in Ayia Napa was confirmed only when it became clear that he could celebrate with his European allies the long-awaited unblocking of funds and new sanctions, the twentieth package also held up since February by Hungary and Slovakia, also celebrated the commitment to advance in accession negotiations, a demand he had already made on the eve of his arrival in Cyprus.
“We will also talk with European leaders about the opening of clusters for Ukraine: the conditions for this have already been met,” he announced from Kyiv regarding the thematic areas (clusters) that group the up to 35 chapters covering the entirety of EU legislation. These range from guarantees regarding the rule of law to economic reforms that allow the candidate country to be ready to enter the internal market.
Long negotiations
Since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has been aware that admitting the attacked country into the European family was one of the most forceful gestures of support for Kyiv and against Vladimir Putin and his military offensive at Europe’s doorstep. In record time, Ukraine formally became a candidate country in June of that year and, 18 months later, in December 2023, at another European summit, the opening of negotiations for its integration into the community club was approved.
However, it was a political agreement, a first step more symbolic than effective, and it required a formal process that never materialized due to Orbán’s constant blockade, considered the main —though not only— Russian Trojan horse within the Twenty-Seven. His departure now after his electoral defeat on April 12 has opened a window of opportunity that other leaders seem unwilling to miss. This, however, is without a specific official timetable —some states advocated for concluding accession by 2027— due to the reluctance of several countries to accelerate a process that, they emphasize, must be “merit-based” and cannot be done “via the fast track,” as Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has said.
