It seems that Hungary has signalled it will drop its long-standing opposition to Ukraine's EU membership. This means that Ukraine and Moldova can begin formal negotiations to join the EU, as reported by Politico and YLE.
The opening of the first negotiations is scheduled to take place during an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg on June 15th, 2026. Ukraine and Moldova applied for EU membership at the same time. This means that Moldova's bid can only advance if Ukraine's does too.
Hungary opposed fiercely Ukraine's accession under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but the country's new leadership has privately signalled otherwise. It must be said, though, that at the moment, "no agreement has been reached" as of yet, as stated by an official, who was granted anonymity because the discussions are confidential.
Talks on Ukraine's membership picked up pace after Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar went to Brussels and met with top EU officials to discuss how to unlock 16.4 billion euros in frozen EU funds.
The opening of the first negotiations requires unanimous approval by all 27 EU member countries. Any country can block the process at any stage.