The European Commission supports the start of negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the European Union.
This was reported by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.
In its conclusion, the European Commission noted that Ukraine continues its systematic efforts to join the EU and has completed all four additional reform steps — it is about anti-corruption measures, restrictions on political lobbying, transparency of the fortunes of officials and protection of the languages of national minorities.
"Now we expect our European partners to take the next step — the start of negotiations on membership in the European Union already this month," Shmyhal said.
European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero stated at the briefing that Kyiv has achieved the necessary criteria in certain areas. Taking this into account, the European Commission gave a positive assessment of Ukraineʼs European integration progress and supported the start of negotiations on EU accession. The European Commission also recommended starting negotiations on Moldovaʼs accession to the EU.
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 Belgiumʼs presidency of the bloc — from July 1, Hungary will take over.
The Financial Times, citing sources informed about the progress of the negotiations, wrote that Belgium hopes to achieve unanimity among all EU member states and hold the first round of accession talks on June 25.
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 submitted an application 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 negotiations on accession, 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. It 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.