EU pushes Ukraine to deliver further reforms before it will unlock fresh funding

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026.

The EU is pressing Ukraine to implement additional reforms as a condition for releasing the next tranche of financial support, with Brussels officials insisting progress must be demonstrated before funds are transferred. The pressure comes as Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory are intensifying, forcing neighbouring Poland to reopen a Cold War-era shelter. Hungary, meanwhile, has welcomed a Ukrainian bill strengthening the rights of its ethnic Hungarian minority.

Poland's Wrocław has reopened a Soviet-era civil defence shelter as Russian strikes on Ukraine reach new levels of intensity.

Budapest welcomed the Ukrainian minority-rights bill, a rare diplomatic thaw between the two countries after years of friction.

An 88-year-old woman in Ukraine's devastated northern villages is among those still clinging on as the war grinds through its fourth year.