The objective of opening talks with Ukraine is to send a message of support to the country after more than two years of war since Russia invaded Ukrainian territory in February 2022.
“Friends, today (Tuesday) marks the beginning of a new chapter in relations between Ukraine and the EU,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, who joined via video conference at the start of the talks.
Shortly before, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated on the X network that “we will never deviate from our path towards a united Europe, towards our common home of all European nations.”
For her part, Maia Sandu, President of Moldova, said that “our future is in the European family.” “We are together for a peaceful and prosperous future,” she added.
A path full of “challenges”
Meanwhile, the president of the European Commission, the German Ursula von der Leyen, stated in X that the start of the talks was “good news for Ukrainians and Moldovans, and for the entire European Union.”
Von der Leyen stressed that “the road will be full of challenges, but full of opportunities.”
In a statement, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, indicated that the start of the talks “is proof of the immense progress that both nations have achieved on their path towards European integration, despite the immense challenges they have faced and face. “.
This Tuesday in Luxembourg, the European Union (EU) held its first round of negotiations with Ukraine and subsequently formally began talks with the Moldovan delegation.
“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
Thus, the pace of the talks will be marked not only by Russia’s actions but also by the reluctance of EU countries itself, such as Hungary.
Ukraine has so far received praise for implementing a series of reforms to curb corruption and political interference, but has not won more specific promises.
Slow and complex process
The war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to add new members, after years in which several countries, such as those in the Western Balkans, made little progress in their hopes of joining.
Tuesday’s EU meetings with Ukraine and Moldova began a process of assessing the extent to which both countries’ laws meet EU standards and how much more work remains to be done.
After this, the EU will begin to establish the conditions for negotiations on 35 issues, ranging from the tax system to environmental policy.
However, it does not seem very likely that the dialogue with Ukraine will show progress this year.
Hungary will take over the rotating six-month presidency of the EU Council on July 1 and has already announced that dialogue with Ukraine is not one of its priorities for the six-month term.
Hungarian Minister of European Affairs Janos Boka said on Tuesday that “it is difficult to know where Ukraine is. From what I see currently, it is very far from meeting the criteria for accession.”
Tuesday’s talks will come at a sensitive time for Moldova, with the United States, Britain and Canada warning of a Russian plot to influence the October presidential election.
Caught between war-torn Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova frequently accuses Russia of interfering in its internal affairs.
The US supports the negotiation
The United States Government congratulated Ukraine and Moldova for the step they have taken on their path towards membership in the European Union; hours after Brussels officially launched negotiations so that both countries can become part of the community bloc.
“Congratulations to the Ukrainian and Moldovan people as Ukraine and Moldova begin EU accession negotiations today,” wrote US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Miller, through his account on the social network
Source: With information from AFP/EUROPA PRESS
