The move comes two years after both countries applied to join the EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Official negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union begin on Tuesday, a step described as historic and intended to strengthen the hopes of the two countries of one day becoming members of the EU despite the war which is raging in Ukraine.
The opening of negotiations will take place within the framework of two consecutive intergovernmental conferences on Tuesday afternoon in Luxembourg. The two candidate countries, the European Commission and the rotating presidency of the Council, currently held by Belgium, will all be represented.
The Ukrainian delegation will be led by Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olga Stefanishyna, while Prime Minister Dorin Recean will lead the Moldovan delegation.
Tuesday’s meeting is largely symbolic, but it means that the European Commission can move forward with the process of reviewing national laws from kyiv and Chisinau to determine whether they are consistent with those of the EU in areas such as energy, finance and food security.
The negotiating frameworks, designed to guide accession talks and agreed by EU member states last week, will also be presented to the two countries.
An EU diplomat said that while the initial review process can usually take one to two years, it could be faster this time, given that the 2014 free trade agreements with Ukraine and Moldova mean that both countries are already aligned with several EU standards and regulations.
The opening of negotiations is one of several steps in a process that usually lasts years and during which countries must make judicial, economic and constitutional reforms before being considered ready to join the EU . It took on average around ten years for previous candidates to join the Union.
Seven other countries are currently waiting to become EU members, five of which – the Western Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – are already the subject of official negotiations.
“We stand on the threshold of an important and transformative moment for these two countries (Ukraine and Moldova) and for our Union”declared the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a video message broadcast Tuesday. She added that Ukraine and Moldova’s path to EU membership will be “rigorous and demanding”.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said: “Our common future begins now”..
Charles Michel, who chairs the European Council, described Tuesday’s discussions as “a proud moment for both nations and a strategic step for the EU.”
“Ukraine’s efforts are all the more admirable given that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has brought unprecedented hardship and adversity,” added Mr. Michel. “The Ukrainian people have shown extraordinary courage and solidarity to defend their sovereignty and their European future.”
Mr Michel has already called on the EU itself to speed up its preparations for enlargement, suggesting that the Union be ready to welcome new members by 2030.
No shortcuts
However, European leaders were quick to emphasize that enlargement remained a process “based on merit”, despite their desire to accelerate the applications of Ukraine and Moldova.
“Membership negotiations are designed to prepare candidates for the responsibilities of membership, and that is why there are no shortcuts,” said Mrs von der Leyen.
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has injected a new sense of urgency into an EU enlargement policy that has stagnated for years, with Mr Michel recently saying the Union must either expand to integrate its eastern flank, or face a new laugh out loud.
Negotiating frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova were quickly adopted, with the Commission breaking with precedent by recommending the opening of negotiations last December before both countries had fully implemented the necessary reforms.
In response, the Hungary opposed the acceleration of Ukraine’s membership application, with Viktor Orbán’s government citing levels of corruption in the country and a lack of measures to protect the rights of the Hungarian minority in the region border of Transcarpathia.
EU member states have so far managed to thwart Orbán’s opposition campaign, for example by tactically asking him to refrain from making a decision to open talks by leaving the negotiating room .
However, some fear that Ukraine’s progress will be slowed over the next six months as Hungary’s nationalist and conservative government takes over the six-monthly rotating presidency of the EU Council from Belgium.
Tuesday’s intergovernmental conferences were convened in a bid to push the two countries on the path to accession before Hungary takes the reins of the Council.
L’exasperation with Orbán’s government has spread among EU diplomats in recent months as he continues to veto key decisions on military aid to kyiv. On Monday, the EU agreed to send 1.4 billion euros in arms and industrial aid to Ukraine, in a deal reached by bypassing Hungary.
The EU executive’s enlargement portfolio has also been led by Hungarian Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi for the past five years. The chairman of the European Parliament’s EU-Moldova delegation, Siegfried Mureșan, told journalists last week that a Hungarian should no longer lead the EU’s enlargement agenda, saying Orbán’s man in Brussels was a “issue” for adhesion thrust.
