EU Council approves negotiating framework with Ukraine and Moldova on EU accession

The EU Council approved the negotiating framework for Ukraine and Moldova and confirmed that intergovernmental conferences to launch negotiations will be held on June 25.

The Belgian Presidency in the EU stated this.

"The EU Council adopted the EU's general position, including the framework conditions for negotiations, for holding accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. This paves the way for the start of negotiations on Tuesday, June 25, in Luxembourg. 3:30 p.m. – intergovernmental conference with Ukraine. 6:00 p.m. – intergovernmental conference with Moldova," the message reads.

At the government meeting, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal emphasized that several historical events will change Ukraine and its place in the world this month.

"The first is the Peace Summit. A unique event that begins a real path to a just peace. The second is the beginning of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. On June 25, we will hold the Ukraine-EU Intergovernmental Conference, which marks the formal start of negotiations on our accession," the prime minister explained.

Further, according to him, Kyiv will start detailed technical negotiations on dozens of different chapters of the future agreement.

"At the same time, we are continuing our integration into the European Union in all directions," Shmyhal stated.

As reported, on December 14, 2023, the European Council decided to start negotiations on membership with Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also granted Georgia the status of a candidate country.

Last Friday, June 14, permanent representatives of the EU countries agreed in principle on the framework of negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the EU.

On June 7, the European Commission positively assessed Ukraine's progress in European integration and supported the start of negotiations on joining the EU. On the same day, EU ambassadors were supposed to decide to start negotiations with Ukraine to join the bloc, but Hungary objected.

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It should be noted that Mathernova previously expressed her belief that Ukraine is ready to start negotiations on joining the European Union. The head of the EU mission in Kyiv hopes for their start at the end of June.

In addition, on May 1, the 20th anniversary of the largest expansion in the European Union's history, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, noted in his statement that candidate countries, including Ukraine, have a historic opportunity to build strong relations with the European Union.

Also, the presidents of the three Baltic countries, in a joint statement for the 20th anniversary of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia's membership in the EU, called for holding intergovernmental conferences with Ukraine and Moldova and for the start of accession negotiations with them in June 2024.

According to Rubryka's report, the European Commission announced on March 12 that it had drafted a negotiation framework for Ukraine and Moldova's membership in the EU. The framework will now be deliberated among the EU member states.

The Office of the President noted that Ukraine has fulfilled over 90% of the European Commission's recommendations.

The Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, believes that Ukraine's accession to the EU in 2030 is quite realistic.