EU Targets Year-End Opening of Ukraine’s Final Two Membership Negotiating Clusters

The European Union plans to open the final two negotiating clusters in Ukraine’s accession talks by the end of 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated before the second day of the EU summit, Babel reported on October 16.

Von der Leyen thanked Ukraine’s parliament for adopting reforms needed to advance the accession process and said the next objective is to open the remaining two clusters before the end of the year.

Ukraine completed the bilateral screening of its legislation with the European Commission in September 2025, a key step in the accession process, after reviewing all six negotiating clusters at what EU officials described as record speed.

Kyiv later opened the first “Fundamentals” cluster in June 2026, covering areas including the rule of law, public administration, and democratic institutions.

According to Babel, opening the final clusters would let Ukraine and the EU move to the next stage of reform work required for membership.

Read more

Category

War in Ukraine

“One Beer Less” for Europeans, “Cost of a Life” for Ukraine: Latvian PM Pushes More Aid and Russian Grain Ban

Oct 15, 2026 16:06

Von der Leyen also announced that the EU is preparing its 22nd sanctions package against Russia, Babel wrote.

She stated that the bloc would not lift sanctions on Russia until Moscow ends its war against Ukraine.

A day earlier, Ukraine and Hungary signaled renewed parliamentary cooperation as Verkhovna Rada  Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk met Hungarian National Assembly Speaker Ágnes Forstoffer. Forstoffer reaffirmed Hungary’s support for Ukraine’s EU membership path and readiness to continue assisting Ukraine and its citizens.

Support our frontline reporters

We report from the front lines to show the reality of war. Your support helps us stay there and tell the stories that matter.

DONATE NOW