EU Membership
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

As I was saying, great efforts have been made by both countries, particularly by Ukraine in what are unimaginable conditions, to make the changes they are making. That is why we want to support them in the best way we can. It is why, when I was in Ukraine earlier this year, I met with civil society groups that are playing a key role in advocating for and bringing forward those changes as quickly as possible.
The Deputy rightly pointed out some of the challenges we will face. For some time, under the Government of Viktor Orbán, we had significant challenges in reaching consensus to move forward on a number of supports for Ukraine, not least the €90 billion loan that was previously agreed by the Council leaders. That blockage has been removed and, thanks to the new Government under Péter Magyar, we have had the opening of the first round of clusters. Unfortunately, a potential blockage or issue has now emerged in regard to the opening of the remaining clusters. We are ambitious to open all five during our Presidency. That might not be straightforward but it just needs engagement and political dialogue. We need to work closely with all 26 member states to make sure issues of concern can be addressed and that we work towards opening all the remaining clusters.
I would, of course, like to see both countries moving together. They started this process together and they have worked together on getting to where they are now. We want to work closely with both of them in order to open the remaining clusters.
As we all know, once the clusters are opened that is the start of another process and obviously that takes time as well.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02