Jozwiak: Georgia’s EU Candidacy Could be “Collateral Damage” of Hungary’s Resistance to Ukraine Accession Talks

Writing in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Welcome to Wider Europe newsletter, Europe editor Rikard Jozwiak discusses possible developments ahead of the European Union summit on December 14-15 against of the backdrop of Hungary’s looming veto on the opening of accession talks with Ukraine. Although he notes that in his understanding, from talking to EU officials and EU member states diplomats, “everyone is generally in favor of Tbilisi getting candidate status”, those countries’ EU statuses could be at risk if they become “collateral damage” in the debate over Ukraine.

“Most EU countries — at least publicly — want Ukraine to start accession talks as well. Hungary is the key exception,” Jozwiak explains, adding in this scenario, the Baltic countries, comprising Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, share the perspective that ‘if Ukraine fails, then everyone fails,’ adding a layer of complexity to the ongoing debate.

The author of the newsletter recalls that on December 4 letter Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban sent letter to the European Council President Charles Michel, in which the Hungarian Prime Minister argued that “the commission’s recent proposal related to the accession process of Ukraine marks the end of the European Union’s enlargement policy as an objective and merit-based instrument. The European Council is now called upon to endorse this proposal, without previously having the opportunity to discuss it.” The letter urged the European Council President not to invite the European Council to decide on these matters in December “as the obvious lack of consensus would inevitably lead to failure.” and stressed this should be avoided as a “counterproductive scenario “for the sake of unity, our most important asset.”

On November 8, the European Commission recommended that Georgia be granted the status of an EU candidate country and that accession negotiations be opened with Moldova and Ukraine. The EU Commission also recommended accession negotiations with Moldova as soon as the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved.

Hungary, an EU member state, has been vocally opposed to opening accession talks with Ukraine. The European Council, made up of the heads of state and government of the member states, will take final decisions on the commission’s recommendations at the December 14-15 summit, which is expected to continue over the next few days due to the large number of issues on the agenda.

Also Read:

• 13/11/2023 – Jozwiak: Tbilisi Likely to Get Candidate Status; Conditions Must Be Met for Accession Talks
• 06/11/2023 – Jozwiak: Georgia’s Candidate Status Likely to be Conditional
• 06/09/2023 – Jozwiak: EUHR Borrell’s Visit “the Last Attempt”
• 26/06/2023 – Expert: Budapest May Block Ukraine EU Negotiations, Unless Georgia Given Candidacy