– “Agreement in principle” to negotiate Ukraine’s accession
The 27 EU countries gave their “agreement in principle” on Friday to the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on June 25.
Published today at 11:30 p.m.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Berlin on June 11, 2024.
AFP
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The ambassadors of the 27 countries of the European Union gave their “agreement in principle” on Friday to the opening of formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, which will begin on June 25, announced the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
“The ambassadors agreed in principle on the framework for the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova. The Belgian presidency will convene the first intergovernmental conferences on June 25,” this source indicated.
Hungary against
This decision must be formally validated at a meeting of European ministers on June 21. And in the Netherlands, approval by Parliament is necessary.
The heads of state and government of the European Union had opened the way for such accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in mid-December. But Hungary has until now been holding back the formal opening of these accession negotiations with Ukraine, judging that the conditions were not met.
The European Commission ruled on June 7 that Ukraine and Moldova had fulfilled all the prerequisites for opening formal negotiations.
Long and arduous process
The European executive had demanded measures from kyiv to fight corruption and the influence of oligarchs. The Commission had also requested better consideration of minorities, a measure insisted on by Budapest, due to the presence of a Hungarian community in Ukraine.
The EU granted candidate status to Ukraine in June 2022, in a highly symbolic gesture a few months after the start of the war triggered by Moscow, as well as to neighboring Moldova.
The opening of negotiations is a step in a long and arduous accession process. A possible entry into the EU of Ukraine, a country of more than 40 million inhabitants and an agricultural power, poses many difficulties, starting with financing.
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