The European Union is opening accession negotiations with Ukraine and neighboring Moldova. In addition, the heads of state and government granted Georgia the status of a candidate country for membership.
The European Union is opening accession negotiations with Ukraine and neighboring Moldova. The heads of state and government decided this at their summit in Brussels, as EU Council President Charles Michel announced on the online service X, Twitter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wrote there of a “victory for Ukraine” and “for all of Europe”.
Orban was not in the room
According to information from EU circles, the decision was made when Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was not in the room. However, the European Council still had a quorum. Orban had previously spoken out several times clearly against the decision to start EU accession negotiations with Ukraine. He justified this with reform requirements that Ukraine has not yet met.
Supporters of a positive decision, however, pointed out at the summit that the start of EU accession negotiations should primarily be a symbolic step. “It will take many years before accession takes place anyway,” said outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the beginning of the summit. It’s about enabling the next step for a country that is working extremely hard on reforms during a war that it is also waging for the EU.
The approval of the European Council is still missing
Ukraine and its small neighboring country Moldova have been waiting a long time for a decision on the start of accession negotiations. The EU Commission had recommended this step in principle in November, but the European Council still had to agree.
At the time, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained that the Commission had made a positive recommendation for Ukraine despite the conditions not yet being met by saying that the outstanding reforms had already been initiated. “The progress we are seeing in Ukraine is impressive,” she emphasized at the time. She is firmly convinced that this will also strengthen Ukraine in its fight against the Russian war of aggression.
According to Michel, Georgia now has accession candidate status. The member states also want to start accession talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina as soon as the country meets the conditions for this. The EU Commission is due to present a report on this in March. Michel spoke of a “clear signal of hope” for the residents of these countries and the European continent.
Source: Stern
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