Croatia's Prime Minister assessed the likelihood of Ukraine joining the EU in early 2027
Andrej Plenković stated that, given the complexity of the negotiation process and the experience of other countries, it is unrealistic to expect to complete the path to full membership by January 2027. He noted that Croatia’s own negotiations lasted six years, whereas Ukraine had not yet opened a single negotiation chapter as of the end of April.
He made these remarks in his statement to the European Council.
Despite skepticism regarding the timeline, the Croatian prime minister welcomed Hungary and Slovakia’s removal of obstacles to granting Ukraine a loan of 90 billion euros, of which 60 billion euros will go toward defense. He also expressed hope for constructive cooperation with Hungary’s future Prime Minister Péter Magyar on the issue of further EU enlargement. Plenković emphasized that no enlargement in the history of the EU has ever taken place as quickly as Kyiv’s current ambitions demand.
The Croatian Prime Minister paid special attention to the need to provide Ukraine with strong security guarantees that would extend beyond the European Union. He called for taking into account the negative experience of the Budapest Memorandum and involving leading members of the international community in a future peace agreement to deter Russia. Plenković emphasized that without reliable safeguards, stability in the region will remain under threat. Croatia continues to support Ukraine’s European aspirations but calls for a realistic assessment of timeframes.
The first negotiation cluster, “Fundamentals,” could be officially opened as early as June 2026 during Cyprus’s presidency of the EU Council. This was announced by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos at the Ukraine-EU Business Summit in Brussels.
Ukraine hopes that the European Union will open all six negotiation clusters regarding the country’s accession as early as this year, and also anticipates the possibility of closing at least one of them by the end of the year.
Ukraine may temporarily forgo some of the benefits of EU membership to accelerate the accession process. Taras Kachka noted that such a step would help Ukraine integrate into the EU more quickly.
