Letʼs start at the beginning. Ukraine wants to join the European Union. Besides the fact that it will be an important symbolic event, why do we need it?
First of all, this is the choice of the Ukrainian people, which they made during the Revolution of Dignity. It was enshrined in our Constitution as a strategic direction of the state.
Ukraine wants to join the EU to become part of the community of developed countries with a stable economy, legal system, and high standard of living.
When a country becomes a member of the EU, it gains access to a large common market. The state will be able to receive money from EU funds for the development of science, technology and infrastructure. Ukrainians will be able to live, work and study freely throughout the European Union.
In addition, for Ukraine, European integration is also part of the desired security guarantees. The EU has its own “article on mutual defense”. It obliges all EU countries to “aid and support” any state of the European bloc if it is attacked.
It is often compared to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. However, the EU does not have a single army and clear plans for how to act in the event of war. So how this guarantee will work is still unclear.
Does anyone besides Ukraine want to join the EU?
There are currently 9 candidate countries. These are mainly the states of the Western Balkans, including Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia. But Europeans want to see Ukraine in the European Union. It is supported the most by people from Sweden, Finland and Denmark. And the least support is in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria.
Ukraine applied for EU membership just four days after the outbreak of the Great War. In June of that year, the European Council unanimously granted Ukraine candidate status. Ukraine was the first in history to receive EU candidate status and begin accession negotiations during a full-scale war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signs Ukraineʼs application for membership in the European Union, February 28, 2022. Plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada, July 1, 2022.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Wait a minute. What is the European Council?
The EU does not have a single president or government like individual countries. It is governed by several institutions that jointly make laws, monitor their implementation, allocate the budget, and set the blocʼs priorities.
The European Council is a kind of "supervisory board" of the EU. It determines political priorities: which economic support programs to launch; how to respond to crises or conflicts; what strategic goals to set for the coming years.
It includes the presidents and prime ministers of all member states. They elect the President of the EU Council (currently diplomat António Costa). In addition, the President of the European Commission (currently Ursula von der Leyen) is a member of the EU Council.
And what is the European Commission?
The European Commission works as the EU government. It is made up of European Commissioners (ministers), one from each country. The European Commission makes sure that all countries comply with EU laws and agreements, use money correctly and implement joint programmes.
It manages the budget and launches projects to support business, science, new technologies and the development of different regions.
My intuition tells me that this is not all...
Intuition was not wrong. In addition to the "supervisory board" and the "government", the EU has a legislative branch. It consists of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
The closest analogue of the EU Council is the upper house of parliament, but it has a special composition — the EU Council is made up of ministers from all EU countries in turn. The composition of the Council varies depending on the issue it is addressing (finance ministers are present at a meeting on economic issues, education ministers at a meeting on education, etc.).
The European Parliament is directly elected by EU citizens and consists of 720 MEPs. Together with the Council, they pass laws and decide where to spend the Unionʼs money.
Volodymyr Zelensky listens to the welcoming speech of European Parliament President Roberta Metsola at the European Parliament in Brussels, February 9, 2023.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
So our lives will be governed by officials from Brussels?
Not exactly. When a country joins the European Union, it does not lose its own government, but it still has to follow common EU policies.
Like all other countries, Ukraine will have representatives in the common EU bodies that we described above. They represent the interests of the state when making decisions that affect all countries of the Union: customs, the operation of the internal single market, foreign trade. Education, culture, healthcare, defense and army, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies remain under the control of each individual country.
This can be compared to living in an apartment building: you furnish your apartment yourself, but agree to the house rules — for example, not making noise after 10:00 PM, sorting garbage, and repairing common areas.
Okay. We were granted candidate status three years ago. Why are we still not in the European Union?
Because joining the European Union is a long and complex process. After a country receives candidate status, the first stage of consultations begins between the European Commission and representatives of that country.
They analyze national legislation and compare it with the requirements of the EU legal framework (acquis communautaire) — this is called screening.
This screening is divided into 33 sections — by areas: economy, energy, judicial system, ecology, etc. Screening is carried out separately for three more areas, namely — economic criteria, functioning of democratic institutions, and public administration reform.
To simplify the screening, the 33 chapters have been grouped into six large blocks, or "clusters". They cover similar or related topics. Based on the screening results, the European Commission prepares a report for the Council of the EU. It contains recommendations on what reforms should be implemented and what next steps the country should take.
Screening meetings of the Ukrainian delegation and the European Commission for Cluster 4, July 8, 2025.
Accession negotiations only begin when the EU Council unanimously decides to officially open a specific cluster (i.e. a large block of issues on one topic) on the basis of a screening report by the European Commission.
During these negotiations, the country gradually adapts its legislation and implements reforms based on the European Commissionʼs recommendations. This is again monitored by the European Commission.
The first cluster to open and close is always the “Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process”. It covers the most important areas: the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, fundamental human rights, and the functioning of democratic institutions.
When negotiations are completed in all clusters (i.e. the country has fulfilled all conditions), the European Commission prepares a final report. Based on its results, the EU Council decides whether to sign the Accession Treaty.
The last step is ratification of the treaty. The European Parliament, the parliaments of all EU countries, as well as the parliament of the candidate country (in our case, the Verkhovna Rada) approve the Accession Treaty. Only after this does the country officially become a member of the European Union.
Where is Ukraine now on this path?
Ukraine has prepared everything necessary to have three negotiation clusters opened for it: "Fundamentals of the EU accession process", "Internal market" and "External relations".
In mid-January of this year, the European Commission sent the EU Council a screening report on the first cluster.
In total, screening reports are ready for at least four clusters. And last week, the European Commission began screening the last one, which is dedicated to agriculture.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka (left) arrived at the informal meeting of EU ministers in Copenhagen, September 2, 2025.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
The European Commission plans to fully complete the screening of Ukrainian legislation by the end of September — then Ukraine will be ready to start negotiations on all clusters. And it will be up to the EU Council, which must open the negotiation clusters by unanimous vote of the 27 countries.
What is happening in Brussels today?
The EU Council will convene for an official meeting on general affairs. Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka hopes that the EU Council will discuss negotiations with Ukraine under the first cluster — whether to start them or not.
In fact, the EU Council was going to open the first cluster earlier. There were several attempts, the last one in July of this year. However, this never happened, because European leaders could not reach an agreement.
Hungary continues to block Ukraineʼs accession to the EU. It has been doing this systematically since the beginning of 2025.
Volodymyr Zelensky arrived to deliver a speech at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, June 25, 2025. French President Emmanuel Macron, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, European Council President Charles Michel, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić before the start of the EU and Western Balkans leadersʼ meeting in Brussels, June 23, 2022.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Damn Orban! Can his veto be somehow overcome?
EU countries that support Ukraineʼs accession have considered several options for overcoming Hungaryʼs veto. The most famous is to invoke Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which would allow the EU Council to deprive Hungary of its voting rights.
But this requires a unanimous decision by all other member states. This is the path proposed, for example, by Denmark, which holds the presidency of the EU Council from July 1. However, it is unlikely that all other members of the EU Council will vote for it.
The European Unionʼs position is clear: Ukraine has met all the conditions, and accession to the EU should be based on merit. The EU ambassador said this in a comment to Babel.
The first cluster is ready to open, and the EU Council now has all the necessary tools to determine the next steps, he says. It will still make the decision to start negotiations unanimously. In other words, the rules of European integration (for now) remain unchanged.
You wrote about Moldova at the beginning. What does Moldova have to do with this?
Ukraine and Moldova are joining the EU as a single “package”. This means that Brussels is considering our applications in parallel. After all, both countries received candidate status at the same time and have similar tasks.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Volodymyr Zelensky talk during a meeting within the framework of the Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in Odessa, June 11, 2025.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
After Hungaryʼs veto and the Ukrainian "anti-corruption crisis" in July, European politicians began discussing the separation of the two countries — the so-called decoupling. This would not hinder Moldovaʼs progress due to Ukraineʼs internal problems. However, there is no consensus among EU countries.
Instead, other risks have emerged. Moldova will hold parliamentary elections on September 28 of this year. If pro-Russian forces win the elections, Moldovaʼs course towards the EU may falter. This will create a dilemma: move Ukraine forward separately or freeze the "package".
Can pro-Russian forces really win in Moldova?
The “Action and Solidarity” party (PAS), supported by pro-European President Maia Sandu, has had a single majority in Moldova’s parliament since 2021. However, its approval ratings have halved in the past four years, The Conversation reports.
During the election campaign, PAS promised to fight corruption, reform the state apparatus, and boost the economy, but has made little progress in any of these areas.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Moldovan President Maia Sandu together before a dinner to mark Moldovaʼs 34th Independence Day.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
According to the publication, PAS will remain the largest party in parliament, but will be forced to form a coalition with pro-Russian and Eurosceptic forces. Therefore, the integration of both our countries into the EU could be stalled for years.