The decision comes two years after both countries applied for EU membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
They start on Tuesday official talks for the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union, in a development that is considered historic and will boost hopes that both countries will one day become members of the EU despite the war that has devastated Ukraine.
The start of talks will take place in two consecutive intergovernmental conferences Tuesday afternoon in Luxembourg, in which the two aspiring countries, the European Commission and the current Presidency of the Council, currently held by Belgium, will be represented.
The Ukrainian delegation will be headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of European Integration, Olga Stefanishynawhile Prime Minister Dorin Recean will lead the Moldovan delegation.
Tuesday’s meeting is mostly symbolic, but it means that the European Commission can advance the process of reviewing national legislation of kyiv and Chisinau to determine their adequacy with those of the EU in areas such as energy, financial services and food security.
Negotiation frameworks, designed to guide accession talks and approved by EU Member States last week, will also be presented to both countries.
A “rigorous and demanding” accession process
An EU diplomat stated that while the initial selection process usually lasts one to two years, this time it could be fasteras the 2014 free trade agreements with Ukraine and Moldova mean that both countries are already aligned with several EU rules and regulations.
The start of negotiations is one of the many milestones in a process that usually lasts for yearsin which countries must carry out judicial, economic and constitutional reforms before they can consider themselves ready to enter the EU. Previous candidates have taken an average of a decade to join the bloc.
Currently there seven other countries waiting to become members of the EU, five of which (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) They are already in formal negotiations.
“We stand on the threshold of a significant and transformative moment for these two countries (Ukraine and Moldova), and for our Union,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a video message on Tuesday. He added that Ukraine and Moldova’s path towards EU accession will be “rigorous and demanding”.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, declared: “Our shared future starts now“.
Charles Michel, who presides over the European Council, described Tuesday’s talks as “a moment of pride for both nations y a strategic step for the EU“.
“Ukraine’s efforts are even more admirable considering that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has caused unprecedented difficulties and adversities“Michel added. “The people of Ukraine have shown extraordinary courage and solidarity in defending their sovereignty and their European future.”
Michel has already asked the EU itself to accelerate its preparations for enlargementsuggesting that the bloc should be ready to accept new members in 2030.
Candidate countries must be prepared
But EU leaders have been quick to point out that enlargement remains a “merit-based” process, despite the desire to accelerate the candidacies of Ukraine and Moldova. “Accession negotiations are intended to prepare candidates for the responsibilities of membershipand that’s why there are no shortcuts,” Von der Leyen said.
The illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has given a new sense of urgency to an EU enlargement policy which has been stagnant for years, and Michel has recently stated that the bloc must expand to integrate its eastern flank or face a new Iron Curtain.
The negotiating frameworks for both Ukraine and Moldova were adopted quickly, and the Commission broke with precedent by recommend opening conversations last December before either country had fully implemented the necessary reforms.
In response, Hungary has opposed the rapid accession of Ukraineciting his concern for the levels of corruption in the country and the lack of measures to protect the rights of the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathian border region.
Until now, EU Member States have managed to divert the opposition campaign of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbánfor example by tactically asking him to abstain from the decision to start talks by leaving the negotiating room.
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But there are fears that Ukraine’s advances will stop in the next six monthswhen the nationalist and conservative Government of Hungary assumes the rotating six-month Presidency from Belgium of the Council of the EU.
Tuesday’s intergovernmental conferences were convened in an attempt to push both countries down the path of accession before Hungary takes over the Council.
The exasperation with the Orbán Government has been escalating among EU diplomats in recent months as it continues to veto key decisions on military aid to kyiv. On Monday, the bloc agreed to send 1.4 billion euros in arms and industrial aid to Ukraine, a deal that was approved without Hungary’s approval.
The EU Executive’s enlargement portfolio has also been led by Hungarian Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi during the last five-year term. The president of the EU-Moldova delegation of the European Parliament, Siegfried Mureșan, told the press last week that A Hungarian should no longer lead the EU enlargement agendastating that Orbán’s man in Brussels has been a “problem” for the accession push.
