EU pushes Ukraine membership bid forward despite Hungary's objections

The European Union on Thursday handed Ukraine a long list of reforms needed to join the bloc, determined to push the process forward despite the ongoing war and objections from EU member Hungary.

Top EU officials and diplomats meeting in Lviv, in western Ukraine, said a list of demands covering roughly half of the required reforms would allow progress while formal negotiations remain blocked by Budapest.

EU membership has become the central goal for Ukraine’s effort to anchor itself to the West as NATO prospects stall.

Here’s a look at the main challenges on Ukraine’s road to the European Union.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán insists accession talks shouldn’t proceed during wartime and has cited the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine and economic risks. Despite being at odds with all other member states, Hungary has stuck to that position and did not send a representative to Thursday’s meeting. Breaking with the broader EU consensus, Budapest has also maintained close ties with Moscow.

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for European affairs, said the EU was moving ahead anyway. “It is very clear that we are 26 member countries that see a future with Ukraine in the EU. It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when,” she told reporters in Lviv.

Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 as a war-divided island and could offer Ukraine a blueprint for accession. The island will take over the EU’s rotating presidency from Denmark on Jan. 1 and has promised to continue work on Ukraine’s bid.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Cyprus’ deputy minister for European affairs, Marilena Raouna, praised Kyiv’s “extraordinary political will” to deliver on key reforms.

“Despite Russia’s ongoing war of aggression, the Ukrainian people continue to defend not only their sovereignty,” she said, “but also the very principles on which our union stands: democracy, freedom, human dignity and respect for fundamental rights.”

Ukraine must align its administration with a host of EU systems, practices and rules before joining the bloc, and the required reforms are divided into six “clusters.” The process is expected to take at least two years.

Detailed requirements within three of those clusters were agreed with Ukraine on Thursday, covering the rule of law and democratic institutions, the internal market and external relations.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Taras Kachka, acknowledged that a recent corruption scandal that rocked the government had made rule-of-law reforms a priority, adding that the pace of alignment was now up to Kyiv.

“We found a way to ensure that the enlargement process continues with the same tempo, despite the fact that we still lack formal unanimity,” he said. “We have a very clear understanding of the benchmarks, what’s on the to-do list and everything else.”

Ukraine is in the official accession queue with eight other hopefuls — Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey — but negotiations are at different stages and not all are active.

Counting territory occupied by Russia, Ukraine would be the EU’s largest member measured by land size if it joined, overtaking France.

An agricultural powerhouse and geographically important for energy, Ukraine as an EU member would also counter Russia’s influence and extend the union’s values eastward.

Marta Kos, the EU enlargement commissioner who led Thursday’s talks, said giving Kyiv a clear road map would help accelerate change.

“Reforms are at the center of this process, and nobody can veto Ukraine from doing these reforms,” she said. “Ukraine will become a member of the EU, and nobody can block it.”

Hadjicostis reported from Nicosia, Cyprus

Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister for European Affairs attends a joint press conference with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka and Marta Kos, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, after informal meeting of EU ministers for European affairs in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka attends a joint press conference with Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister for European Affairs and Marta Kos, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, after informal meeting of EU ministers for European affairs in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

From left: Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka, Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister for European Affairs and Marta Kos, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, attend a joint press conference after informal meeting of EU ministers for European affairs in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos seeks during joint press conference with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka and Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister for European Affairs, after informal meeting of EU ministers for European affairs in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, right, attends a joint press conference with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka, left, and Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister for European Affairs, after informal meeting of EU ministers for European affairs in Lviv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

GOMA, Congo (AP) — More than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group escalated its offensive in the South Kivu province in eastern Congo, regional officials said, adding that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.

M23’s latest offensive comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington. The accord didn’t include the rebel group, which is negotiating separately with Congo and agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. However, it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups and work to end hostilities.

“More than 413 civilians (have been) killed by bullets, grenades, and bombs, including many women, children, and young people” in localities between Uvira and Bukavu, the regional capital, the South Kivu government spokesperson said in a statement late Wednesday.

“According to the information gathered, the forces present in the city are composed of Rwandan special forces and some of their foreign mercenaries, operating in clear violation of the ceasefire as well as the Washington and Doha agreements, in total disregard of the commitments made," the statement added.

M23 said it had taken control of the strategic city of Uvira in eastern Congo on Wednesday afternoon, following a rapid offensive since the start of the month. Uvira is an important port city on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika and is directly across from neighboring Burundi’s largest city, Bujumbura.

The announcement by M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka, posted on the social platform X, encouraged citizens who fled to return to their homes. Uvira is an important port city on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika and is directly across from neighboring Burundi’s largest city, Bujumbura.

Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which had hundreds of members in 2021. Now, according to the U.N., the group has around 6,500 fighters.

While Rwanda denies that claim, it acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, allegedly to safeguard its security. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.

Burundian Foreign Minister Edouard Bizimana, in an interview with French state media RFI on Wednesday, urged the U.S. to pressure Rwandan President Paul Kagame to ensure the implementation of the agreement signed in the U.S.

“M23 without Kagame, without Rwanda, is nothing," he said.

Bizimana said the capture of Uvira poses a threat to the economic capital, Bujumbura.

“We have registered more than 30,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the last three days … Uvira and Bujumbura are coastal cities. What threatens Uvira also threatens Bujumbura."

On Thursday, Kanyuka said on X that “some Burundian forces have returned to their national territory, while others have entrenched themselves in the highlands,” referring to the hills of Uvira and Mininebwe in South Kivu.

“Since early Thursday morning, Dec. 11, 2025, these elements entrenched in the highlands have resumed, with unacceptable brutality, their campaign of extermination against our Tutsi Banyamulenge compatriots in Minembwe, indiscriminately launching bombs and using heavy artillery that is killing innocent civilians, including women and children," he wrote.

The Chairperson of the African Union, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, on Thursday said he “deeply regrets these clashes and the violence perpetrated against civilian populations, which run counter to the momentum generated by the Doha Framework Agreement” between congo and AFC/M23, “as well as the Washington D.C. Agreement between the DRC and Rwanda." He also called on all parties “to exercise restraint and to prioritize a political solution.”

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa urged M23 and Rwandan troops to cease all offensive operations and for the Rwandan Defense Forces to withdraw to Rwanda.

The Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the Congolese armed forces for the recent ceasefire violations in a statement on X on Wednesday.

“The DRC has openly stated that it would not observe any ceasefire, and was fighting to recapture territories lost to AFC/M23, even as the peace process unfolded,” it said.

More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees.

Local U.N. partners report that more than 200,000 people have been displaced across the province since Dec. 2, with more than 70 killed. Civilians also have crossed into Burundi, and there have been reports of shells falling in the town of Rugombo, on the Burundian side of the border, raising concerns about the conflict spilling over into Burundian territory.

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Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Renovat Ndabashinze in Bujumbura, Burundi, contributed to this report.

FILE - M23 rebels escort government soldiers and police who surrendered to an undisclosed location in Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)