European Commission approves start of accession talks with Ukraine
7 June 2024 14:07
The European Commission has officially confirmed that Ukraine and Moldova have fulfilled all the necessary requirements to start negotiations on accession to the European Union. This was stated by the European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero, according to "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the European Pravda.
At a briefing, Pisonero said that Ukraine had met the criteria in key areas such as fighting corruption, regulating political lobbying, transparency of officials’ declarations and protecting the rights of national minorities.
“We believe that all the steps have been taken by both countries… Now it is up to the member states to continue the discussion on the next steps. It is up to them to adopt a framework for negotiations,”
pisonero emphasised.
Now the decision on the start and format of the negotiations depends on the 27 EU member states, which must reach a consensus on this issue. However, there are fears that Hungary may oppose the talks due to alleged violations of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
On 1 July, Hungary will take over the EU presidency for six months, which will give it more influence. Therefore, Belgium, which currently holds the EU presidency, plans to hold the first round of talks on 25 June, before the presidency is handed over to Hungary.
Ukraine’s accession to the EU
on 14 December 2023, at a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the European Union approved the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
on 12 March, the European Commission officially presented the negotiating framework for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. It sets out the guiding principles and framework for accession negotiations with each candidate country.
The European Council called on other EU member states to quickly endorse the negotiating framework for Ukraine’s accession to the EU as soon as it is presented.
