All EU members greenlight first step in accession talks, Ukraine PM says

All members of the European Union agreed to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova on the first cluster of issues in their accession talks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said early on Thursday.

"Fantastic news," she wrote on X. "We are one step closer to the EU membership: steadily moving towards our goal."

Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said on X it had starting preparing to formally open negotiation on the first group of negotiating chapters, which cover rule-of-law and democratic standards, with both countries.

"This marks a significant milestone in their European integration path, and sends a strong message of EU unity and determination," it said.

The presidency said it would work "towards finalising the discussions" for the formal opening.

Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said his country and Ukraine had reached an agreement on the rights of the 100,000-strong Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

Magyar had previously said that agreement on the long-running dispute was essential if Budapest were to agree to Ukraine joining the EU.

Both Ukraine and Moldova are pressing for membership of the 27-member EU after more than four years of war pitting Kyiv against Moscow.