Ukraine and Moldova meet all the criteria needed to officially start EU accession negotiations, Ana Pisonero, spokesperson for the European Commission on enlargement issues, announced today.
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"We confirm that on the Commission side we consider that all the steps have been met by the two countries. Now the decision is in the hands of the member states. It is for them to adopt the negotiating framework. And as always, it is the prerogative of the president of the council, once this step is done, to convene an intergovernmental conference to formally mark the start of the negotiations," Pisonero said.
She stated that Ukraine has met the criteria in areas such as the fight against corruption, lobbying, transparency of officials' incomes, and the rights of national minorities.
"We are grateful for the positive assessment of our progress in European integration. The European Commission's conclusion states that Ukraine continues its systematic efforts to join the European Union and has completed all four additional reforms.
We now expect our European partners to take the next step, which is to start negotiations on EU membership as early as this month. In the war against the Russian aggressor, the Ukrainian people fight every day for the right to be a part of the European family," said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
In an article published today on this topic, the Financial Times, citing a source, reports that Georgia failed to receive the ‘green light’ due to the approval of the law on Foreign Agents against Brussels' warnings.
Negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union are likely to begin in June, before Hungary assumes the presidency of the European Council for six months starting in July.
The European Council supported the opening of accession negotiations with candidate countries Ukraine and Moldova in December of last year. Georgia was granted candidate status with the condition that the government takes steps in nine directions.
Peter Fischer, the German ambassador to Georgia, warned the authorities that if the Russian Law is adopted, Germany will not support the opening of negotiations on Georgia's accession to the European Union.
