Katarína Mathernová, the European Union's Ambassador to Ukraine, believes that Hungary's presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2024 will not hinder Kyiv's further progress towards membership.

Mathernová explained in an interview with Suspilne that the country that holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union "promotes agreement on specific issues in various formations, councils, and working groups".

"So I don't think any presidency can influence decisions on anything in one direction or another. It is not the right role. The EU is a structure that has certain areas that operate on the basis of consensus. EU enlargement is one of them," Mathernová said.

She added, however, that it is important to take the concerns expressed by any EU member seriously.

"It is important to have a close dialogue with Hungary because EU enlargement depends on unanimity," the EU ambassador said.

Hungary will chair the Council of the European Union from July to December 2024 after Belgium. Currently, Spain holds the EU Council presidency.

On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that the European Union should not start negotiations with Ukraine on EU membership, adding that "Kyiv is far from the EU".

Earlier, the Hungarian government said that the EU should not start membership talks with Ukraine because it has not fulfilled its conditions.

In addition, Budapest threatened to block the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine until Hungary's demands on the language of education are met.