President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen attend a joint press conference in Brussels, on Aug. 17, 2025. (Photo by Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP) (Photo by SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images)
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Ukraine has shown “remarkable commitment” to its bid for EU membership despite Russia’s full-scale war, but must urgently reverse negative trends in the fight against corruption and step up rule of law reforms, the European Commission is expected to say in its draft enlargement report, seen by the Kyiv Independent.
“Despite the very difficult circumstances the country finds itself in on account of Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine continued to demonstrate remarkable commitment to the EU accession path over the past year,” the draft report is expected to say.
The Commission is set to rule that Ukraine has also met the conditions to open three out of the six EU accession clusters required to be then adopted and closed for a country to be deemed ready to join the union.
“The Commission’s assessment is that Ukraine has met the conditions required to open cluster one (fundamentals) as well as clusters six (external relations) and two (internal market). The Commission expects Ukraine to also meet the conditions to open the remaining three clusters by the end of the year,” it adds.
Despite the upcoming report’s positive overview of Ukraine’s readiness to advance its accession talks, no clusters are expected to be opened soon, as Hungary remains the sole blocker of Kyiv’s bid.
EU Commission pushes for progress on Ukraine’s accession despite Hungary’s block
BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Commission is pushing to maintain momentum in Ukraine’s EU accession bid despite political resistance from Hungary, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said. “The main issue now is that we need strong support also in the EU member states,” Kos told a group of reporters, including the Kyiv Independent, ahead of the release of the EU annual review of the progress of candidate countries in their accession process set for Nov. 4. According to Ukrainian and Europe
Concerns over anti-corruption setbacks
Despite an overall positive trend and high praises, not all is smooth on Ukraine’s side, according to the upcoming report.
“Ukraine has continued fostering integrity and meritocracy in the judicial system and building an enforcement track record in high-level corruption cases and has launched the reforms of several law enforcement bodies,” the report states.
“The martial law related restrictions upon fundamental rights remain overall proportionate,” it further adds.
But while acknowledging progress on reforms, the European Commission will warn that Ukraine still needs to strengthen judicial independence, curb organized crime, and protect civil society.
“Recent negative trends, including a growing pressure on the specialised anti-corruption agencies and civil society, must be decisively reversed,” the draft report states.
Brussels’ concerns grew after Ukrainian authorities in July attempted to expand the powers of the country’s Prosecutor General — a political appointee — over the independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
Rare wartime protests forced the government to back down, but the move alarmed Ukraine’s international partners, while the agencies expect more pressure to come.
Ukraine’s Security Service and top anti-corruption agency are openly fighting. Both say only Russia can win
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the country’s top anti-corruption agency are entangled in an escalating confrontation involving raids and arrests. The conflict is seen as part of a broader struggle between the President’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which says the authorities are trying to eliminate its independence. The SBU, which is seen as loyal to the President’s Office, has arrested NABU employees, accusing them of having ties to Russia, and portrayed the c
Speeding up next steps
Kyiv has told EU officials it aims to complete accession negotiations by the end of 2028. The European Commission called this goal ambitious but attainable only with faster reforms.
Ukrainian officials acknowledge in Kyiv that a more realistic goal is to finish all the negotiations by 2030.
“The Commission is committed to support this ambitious objective but considers that to meet it an acceleration of the pace of reforms is required, notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law,” the draft says.
Joining the bloc requires unanimous support from all 27 EU member states.
While nearly all governments — minus Hungary — publicly support Ukraine’s European aspirations, EU diplomats say membership is not expected in the near future and may face significant political hurdles.
Short of further steps on accession this year, the European Commission, meanwhile, is pushing to maintain momentum in Ukraine’s EU accession bid despite political resistance from Hungary, EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told a group of reporters in Brussels.
Tuesday’s report will come one month before EU leaders gather in Brussels for a scheduled summit where they are expected to discuss the next steps on enlargement for 2026.
Kos said she expects EU member states to provide at least a political signal allowing technical work to continue, even if unanimity for opening of formal steps in the accession negotiations is blocked.
“The Commission will continue the work to put the Council in a position to take forward the opening of all clusters before the end of the year (…) Despite some progress on fundamental reforms, further efforts remain essential,” the report will say.
The European Commission is also proposing changes to how future enlargement is handled to prevent democratic backsliding by new member states.
“To ensure that new member states continue to safeguard and maintain their track record on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights, the Commission considers that future Accession Treaties should contain stronger safeguards against backsliding on commitments made during the accession negotiations,” the report notes.
‘Someone must be held accountable’ — Chief anti-corruption prosecutor sounds alarm on justice delayed
Despite overwhelming political pressure and legal hurdles, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies have managed to bring charges against a number of top officials. High-profile cases, however, have been stalled in courts for years. Oleksandr Klymenko, Ukraine’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor, argued in an interview with the Kyiv Independent that the problem must be solved urgently. Many of the major corruption cases will soon be closed unless measures are taken, he said. “In 2026, 2027, and 2028
