The European Union made a historic decision to open membership negotiations with Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the hall during the vote rather than casting a veto against the decision.
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EU decided to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership
Viktor Orbán left the hall during the vote
Orbán stated that if all 26 other member states want to make this decision, then let them make it
26 countries voted to launch negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU
The vote occurred at the EU summit in Brussels in mid-December
Mark Rutte expressed confidence that Viktor Orbán would give in and the EU summit would reach an agreement on Ukraine.
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Extraction metadata
Extracted: 2026-02-16T21:57:11.550Z
Source story: 26268