FT: The European Commission will recommend starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU already in June

The European Commission will recommend starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the European Union already in June — before Hungary takes over the presidency of the bloc.

This is reported by the Financial Times (FT) with reference to three sources familiar with the matter.

The European Commission will insist on the start of official negotiations already this month in order to give Ukraine a positive signal. Today, June 7, the Commission is to announce that Ukraine meets previously unfulfilled criteria — anti-corruption measures, restrictions on political lobbying, rules for declaring assets for state officials and protection of national minority languages.

The European Commission will also recommend starting negotiations on joining the European Union with Moldova, but not with Georgia, where the controversial law on "foreign agents" was recently adopted.

The recommendation to Brussels requires unanimity from all EU member states. It is expected that Hungary will oppose the start of negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU due to the situation with the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. And taking into account the fact that from July 1, Hungary will take over the presidency of the European Union, it will receive additional leverage to determine the agenda of meetings at which issues related to Ukraine are discussed. Belgium, which currently holds the EU presidency, hopes to reach consensus and hold the first round of accession talks on June 25.

Back in March 2024, the European Commission prepared a negotiating framework for Ukraineʼs membership in the EU. And in May, Belgium, which currently presides over the EU, confirmed its intention to organize an intergovernmental conference with Ukraine in June. That is, the actual start of negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the EU should take place before the end of the Belgian presidency.

When will we become a member of the EU?

This will happen only after Ukraine fulfills all requirements and fully implements all European standards.

There are various examples in the history of EU enlargement. Finland applied in 1992, and already in 1995 it became a member of the European Union. Poland applied in 1994 and joined the EU 10 years later. The last country to join the European Union is Croatia. It applied in 2003 and became a new member of the EU in 2013.

There are also countries that still remain candidates for admission. These are four Balkan countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Turkey has the same status. But in all these countries the process is stalled. Turkey does not meet the requirements of the EU at all and shows no desire to join it. In Serbia, the majority of the population does not want to join the European Union, and the country itself has close ties with Russia. Albania has not even started accession negotiations, and in Montenegro, with the change of government, the foreign policy orientation is also changing — sometimes towards the EU, then towards Serbia. North Macedonia is doing the most to join the European Union, but its progress is being blocked by its neighbors. First Greece demanded to change the name — and the Macedonians did it, now Bulgaria demands from North Macedonia to recognize that its people and language have Bulgarian roots and come from Bulgaria.

The most important thing is that after receiving candidate status, everything depends on the Ukrainian authorities. She received a clear list of reforms that must be implemented, and society has the opportunity to control this process. In addition, the candidate status will mean access to the financial funds of the European Union — in fact, the EU itself will provide money for reforms. One thing can be said for sure: the sooner Ukraine reforms, the sooner it can become a member of the EU.