Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu says Hungary’s blocking of European Union accession negotiation clusters has become “almost a tradition.” He added that he would seek further information on the matter from Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi and Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov.
Speaking to journalists, Grosu said he was aware of reports that Hungary could block the opening of negotiation clusters for Ukraine. He said he learned from the media that Moldova was also affected.
“I do not have details on this matter. I read something, but what I read was related to Ukraine, and that has somehow already become a tradition, unfortunately. A trend. On the Hungarian side, they seem to have a harder time and are more persistent in looking for arguments not to open one cluster or another.
I promise I will look into it more carefully and speak with Mr. Popșoi and Ms. Gherasimov so that I can provide comprehensive information instead of improvising,” Igor Grosu said.
According to IPN sources, Hungary has, for the second time in less than a week, blocked the opening of Clusters 2 and 3 in the EU accession negotiations for both Moldova and Ukraine. Budapest reportedly refused to approve the screening results for the two clusters during a meeting of the Council of the European Union’s Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA), an unnamed European official told the outlet.