Hungary faces renewed pressure to drop its opposition to Kyiv’s accession bid.
Brussels officials are pushing to begin formal negotiations over Ukraine joining the European Union as early as next month, according to people familiar with the matter.
Behind the scenes, diplomats from the EU and from Kyiv are working intensively to try to persuade the Hungarian government to give its approval to opening talks on Ukraine’s accession.
Five diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aim is to kickstart the formal negotiations as soon as June 25.
Starting membership talks means the EU and the country hammering out what laws the country needs to change in order to align with EU regulations.
That means going over the whole UA legal code with a fine tooth comb.
Then about the organizational changes in the government and legal systems to enshrine the new laws, allowing companies time to adapt. Etc etc.
The whole process takes years if not decades. So of the war is still ongoing by then it would be an issue. But I think everyone expects it to be over by then.
Ukraine is keeping one eye on the war and the other on the future. This is why they are so reluctant to draft the young men ( 18 - 27 year olds). Just like most former Soviet states the countries have very big dents in their population pyramids stemming from WW2, the holodomor and Soviet policies. This hurts economic growth tremendously and compounds over time.