EU states agree on accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova
Published: Friday, Jun 14th 2024, 21:40
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The EU member states have agreed in principle to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova. This was announced by the Belgian Council Presidency in Brussels on Friday. The decision is to be formally approved at an EU ministerial meeting next week.
The EU countries actually wanted to discuss a 14th package of sanctions against Russia at the meeting of their permanent representatives this Friday. However, Germany had previously expressed concerns about the plans, which have not yet been resolved.
The current agreement to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova is an important sign - especially towards Kiev. The Ukraine peace conference starts in Switzerland on Saturday. The aim of the summit is to gain the broadest possible international support for the Ukrainian peace plan with a complete withdrawal of Russia from Ukrainian territory.
The EU Commission had already announced a week ago that it considered all requirements for the start of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to be fulfilled. These included measures to combat corruption, improve the protection of national minorities and limit the political influence of oligarchs.
The start of accession talks with Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, and its small neighboring state Moldova had already been agreed in principle at an EU summit in December. At the same time, however, it was agreed that all reform requirements had to be met before negotiations could begin. Another prerequisite was that all EU states agreed to the so-called negotiating framework, which sets out guidelines and principles for the accession talks.
For the people of Ukraine, the opening of EU accession negotiations is above all an important sign that it is worth continuing the defensive struggle against Russia. How long it could take to join the EU once the talks have started is completely open. Turkey, for example, became an EU candidate back in 1999 - and is currently considered further away from membership than any other candidate country, partly due to setbacks in the rule of law.
Theoretically, a candidate country can never become a member. In the case of Ukraine, it is currently considered impossible for it to become an EU member before the end of the Russian war of aggression. This is because Kiev could then call for military assistance under Article 42, paragraph 7 of the EU Treaty and the EU would be a party to the war.
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