The countries of the European Union confirmed this Friday at the ministerial level that on Tuesday Accession negotiations will open with Ukraine and Moldovaannounced the delegation of Belgium, which holds the semiannual rotating presidency of the EU.
The finance ministers of the bloc countries formally adopted the negotiating table and thus confirmed an agreement in principle that had been reached a week ago by the permanent representatives of the 27 States in Brussels. The same sources reported that the talks would take place in Luxembourg.
“A dream”
On social network X, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky (photo), hailed a “historic step” that will allow many Ukrainians to see a dream come true. “Millions of Ukrainians, and indeed generations of our people, are realizing their European dream. Ukraine returns to Europe, to which it has belonged for centuries, as a full member of the European community,” he noted.
The EU had granted Ukraine the status of a candidate country in June 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion, in a gesture considered highly symbolic.
The European Commission had announced on June 7 that Ukraine and Moldova met all the preconditions to start formal negotiations. The European executive nevertheless demanded that Ukraine take measures to combat corruption and the power of the oligarchs.
The Commission also called for greater consideration of minorities, a measure insistently demanded by Budapest, given the presence of a Hungarian community in Ukraine.
Complex negotiations
The accession process takes several years of complex negotiations between aspiring countries and the EU institutions in Brussels, a process that can take up to a decade.
Türkiye began formal accession talks in 2005, and the situation remains deadlocked. Albania was recognized as a candidate country in 2003, and began formal talks in 2009, which have not yet been completed.
Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia are also waiting in line, with growing impatience. Hungary, which assumes the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1, has already announced that it does not intend to hold more rounds of dialogue with Ukraine in the semester.
