On December 11, according to Reuters, on the 11th local time, Ukrainian Prime Minister Kuleba said that at the upcoming summit, if EU leaders do not "give the green light" to Ukraine's negotiations on joining the EU, it will have a "devastating" impact on Ukraine and the EU.
According to the report, EU leaders will meet on the 14th and 15th to decide whether to start Ukraine's accession negotiations, and discuss issues such as providing 50 billion euros worth of aid to Ukraine and how to continue to provide military assistance to the country.
At a meeting with EU foreign ministers, Kuleba noted that the launch of Ukraine's accession negotiations was the most important of the list, "I can't imagine, I don't even want to talk about the devastating consequences that would be incurred if the [European] Council fails to take this decision." In his opinion, this would show that the EU will not be able to meet its historical commitments.
As previously reported, Ukraine officially became an associated country of the European Union in 2017. After the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Uzelensky signed a document on Ukraine's application to the European Union on February 28, 2022, calling on the EU to launch a "new special procedure" to quickly absorb Ukraine. On June 23 of the same year, the European Council agreed to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the European Union.
In November 2023, the European Commission released its 2023 annual assessment of accession, recommending the start of accession negotiations for Ukraine. The European Commission has set seven reforms that Ukraine needs to complete before starting negotiations, including tackling corruption and curbing the power of oligarchs. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine had now completed "well over 90 percent of the necessary steps".
However, according to Reuters, the start of Ukraine's accession talks faces resistance from Hungary, which requires the unanimous consent of the EU's 27 member states.
According to the report, Hungary said on the 11th local time that it would not "give the green light" to Ukraine's EU accession negotiations due to pressure from other EU countries.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes that the EU's proposal to start negotiations is "groundless and ill-prepared." He said that discussing Ukraine's accession to the EU "is not at odds with the interests of many countries, but also with the interests of Hungary."