In hot pursuit of the historic EU summit, which decided to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, Marianna Fakhurdinova, an Associate Fellow at the New Europe Center, spoke with BBC News Ukrainian about:

• How Orban was convinced (and his absence in the hall during the vote);
• Further steps on Ukraine’s movement to the EU (adoption of the negotiation framework, opening and closing of the negotiation chapters);
• Discussions on internal EU reform (transition from consensus to QMV, change of EU treaties (or not?), change of enlargement methodology).

“When there is a political will (both in the EU and in NATO) on a particular issue, then you can find creative ways to overcome the resistance of one country and do it legally correctly”, the expert said.

Interview recording (Ukrainian) is below