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

June 4 (Reuters) - 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.

(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Cynthia ‌Osterman)

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