EU enlargement chief says Ukraine’s membership 'inevitable' despite Hungary’s objections

KYIV, UKraine (AP) — The European Union’s enlargement chief said Wednesday she is confident Hungary will not derail Ukraine’s path to membership, which she described as "inevitable.”

“I’m not worried,” Commissioner Marta Kos told reporters while visiting a thermal power plant in Western Ukraine that was badly damaged by Russia’s campaign against civilian infrastructure. “I would be worried if there were real concerns.”

“On EU membership of Ukraine — which is inevitable — I see this as a political anchor of security guarantees,” she said, noting that “There has never been a war on the territory of the European Union.”

Ukraine hopes to join the bloc by the end of the decade and remains frustrated that its path to NATO membership looks uncertain.

Kyiv applied for EU membership in 2022 shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Now, Commissioner Kos is convening an informal meeting of European affairs ministers Thursday to prepare for the next stage of accession talks.

Kos hinted that the process could move even faster, saying “The quicker the reforms which are needed will be done, the quicker the process can be.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has opposed launching membership talks while the war continues. Yet, Kos dismissed his objections saying “We do not need Orbán to do the reforms which are necessary for Ukraine to become a member of the EU."

The Slovenian diplomat toured the heavily damaged power plant, where heavy machinery was blackened, control panels melted and a giant hole gaped in the roof of one of the main buildings.

Andrii, a turbine operator on duty during a recent attack, described the chaos that followed.

“The first thing you feel is a huge rush of adrenaline. There’s heavy smoke, loud noise, pressure — you can’t hear your colleagues,” he said. “Damaged equipment means escaping steam and high-temperature feedwater. At first it’s very difficult to orient yourself in the smoke.”

Company officials asked that the plant’s location and the full names of employees not be published for security reasons.

The thermal power plant is one of six operated by private utility DTEK that have sustained major damage from relentless Russian drone and missile attacks in recent weeks.

Kos praised the resilience of power workers and Ukrainians in general.

“There is no other more resistant nation in the world which I know than the Ukrainians,” she said, recalling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expectation of a quick victory. “Putin said it would take one week. But here we are and it’s been nearly four years, so you are already the winners."

Andriy Popovych contributed.

A worker shows damages of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, front, looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A worker walks in front of a production hall after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos looks at a production hall damaged after a recent Russian missile attack at DTEK's power plant in Ukraine, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court on Thursday issued a ruling that effectively removed the head of the country’s main opposition party by annulling a 2023 congress that elected him.

The move deals a serious blow to the beleaguered Republican People’s Party, or CHP, as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.

An appeals court in Turkey’s capital Ankara declared the CHP congress that picked Ozgur Ozel as chairman to be null, ordering that he should be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.

The ruling led to frantic meetings at the CHP’s Ankara headquarters, further threatening the opposition’s chances of unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after more than two decades in office. Large crowds gathered outside the office block and police erected barriers.

The next presidential election is due in 2028 but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, the CHP mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, has been imprisoned since March last year and is currently on trial on corruption charges.

The appeals court's decision suspends Ozel and members of the party’s executive board from their duties. They will be “provisionally” replaced by Kilicdaroglu and those who held office before the November 2023 congress.

In comments to broadcaster TV100, Kilicdaroglu called for party members to remain calm. “Our party is a very large party and it will solve its own problems internally,” he said. The 77-year-old was removed following a 13-year tenure as leader, during which the CHP failed to win any national elections.

Ozel, meanwhile, attempted to rally supporters.

“I am not promising you a path to power through a rose garden,” he posted on X following the ruling. “I am promising you the ability to endure suffering but never surrender. I am promising you honor, dignity, courage and struggle!”

The CHP is expected to challenge Thursday’s ruling in the Supreme Court in the coming days.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, who oversaw several cases against the CHP in his former role as Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, described the court’s ruling as one that “reinforces our citizens’ trust in democracy.”

Many observers have said that the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centered on corruption allegations — are politically motivated and aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government, however, insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a serious blow in 2019 when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure that many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.

FILE - Republican People's Party or (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel gestures to party members during his speech during a CHP convention, in Ankara, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)

FILE - Turkish CHP party leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, joins legislators elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as they attend their first parliamentary session, in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)