Eleven years after the pro-European demonstrations in Maidan Square, in the heart of kyiv, which led to the exile in early 2014 of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine, at war, is now firmly on the path to Europe . On Tuesday June 25, the country officially opened its membership negotiations with the European Union (EU) during a meeting in Luxembourg. A few hours later, Moldova also opened its own accession negotiations.
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“It’s a historic day,” a Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the X network. Ukraine had submitted its application for membership on February 28, 2022, just days after the start of the Russian invasion. ” Till todayhe added on the Ukrainian presidency website, we were a country that had obtained candidate status for membership, but there was still no complete certainty (…). Today we are fully confident: Ukraine will definitely become a full member of the European Union. »
“This is very good news for the people of Ukraine, Moldova and the entire European Union, commented Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission. The road ahead will be strewn with pitfalls but full of opportunities. We wish you a successful start to negotiations! »
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While Ukraine suffers daily Russian bombings, particularly on its energy infrastructure, Volodymyr Zelensky, expected Thursday June 27 in Brussels to take part in the summit of heads of state and government of the European Union, has just experienced a sequence encouraging diplomacy. In addition to the official opening of accession negotiations, a very strong symbolic step, EU foreign ministers ended up unblocking several issues that had been bogged down for a long time.
“A clear message to Russia”
On Monday, they first validated a fourteenth package of sanctions against Russia, which targets in particular investments in the Russian gas sector, but also all financial, logistical and industrial players who facilitate the evasion of Western sanctions against the country. aggressor of Ukraine.
Then, the ministers agreed on the transfer of 1.4 billion euros of income from Russian assets immobilized in Europe to the European Peace Facility in order to launch purchases of ammunition and weapons systems for the Ukrainian army. Furthermore, in the wake of the G7, discussions are moving forward to use these undue profits from 2025 to cover the interest on a new loan of 50 billion dollars (46.7 billion euros) intended to buy other defense equipment.
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