The EU states have agreed in principle to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova. The Belgian Council Presidency announced this in Brussels on Friday. The decision is to be formally approved at an EU ministerial meeting next week.
The EU countries actually wanted to discuss a 14th package of sanctions against Russia at the meeting of their permanent representatives this Friday. However, Germany had previously expressed concerns about the plans, which have not yet been resolved.
The current agreement to start accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova is an important signal – especially to Kiev. The Ukraine Peace Conference starts in Switzerland on Saturday. The aim of the summit is to gain the broadest possible international support for the Ukrainian peace plan with a complete withdrawal of Russia from Ukrainian territory.
The EU Commission announced a week ago that it considered all the conditions for starting EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to be met. These included measures to combat corruption, better protect national minorities and limit the political influence of oligarchs.
The start of accession talks with Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia, and its small neighbouring country, Moldova, had already been decided in principle at an EU summit in December. At the same time, however, it was agreed that all reform requirements must be met before negotiations can begin. Another prerequisite was that all EU states have agreed to the so-called negotiating framework, which sets out the guidelines and principles for the accession talks.
For the people of Ukraine, the opening of EU accession negotiations is seen above all as an important sign that it is worth continuing the defensive struggle against Russia. How long it might take after the talks have started until the country joins the EU is completely unclear. Turkey, for example, became an EU candidate in 1999 – and is currently considered further away from membership than all other accession candidates, partly because of setbacks in the rule of law.
Theoretically, a candidate country can never become a member. In the case of Ukraine, it is currently considered impossible that it will become an EU member before the end of the Russian war of aggression. This would mean that Kiev could demand military assistance under Article 42, paragraph 7 of the EU Treaty and the EU would be a party to the war.
