Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, February 24, 2024 in kyiv (AFP/Genya SAVILOV)
The European Union officially launched accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday in Luxembourg, a step described as “historic” both in kyiv and Brussels.
Russia has sought by all means to obstruct this accession process, which promises to be long and difficult, leading these two former Soviet republics to anchor themselves to Europe.
“Over the past year, our country has been the subject of hybrid attacks orchestrated by Moscow, (…) in an effort to derail the European integration process,” the Prime Minister denounced on Tuesday. Moldovan Dorin Recean, in his speech to the 27 in Luxembourg.
“Historic moment” for the President of the European Council Charles Michel, “historic day” for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: there was no shortage of superlatives to greet the opening of these impatiently awaited negotiations in kyiv, more than two years later the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and in Chisinau.
In Ukraine, “90% of people support us, we will make the reforms” required, assured Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, during a speech to the ministers of the Twenty-Seven. She paused briefly, alerted by her cell phone: “We have an alert in kyiv,” she said, recalling coming from a country at war.
EU member states first formally opened negotiations with Ukraine, then with Moldova later in the afternoon.
Olga Stefanichyna (left), Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, gestures next to Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (right) as she arrives at an intergovernmental conference dedicated to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union during a general affairs conference Council at the EU Council building in Luxembourg on June 25, 2024. (AFP/Jean-Christophe Verhaegen)
The opening of talks with kyiv is the result of a hard-won agreement by 26 EU countries, which were forced to compete in ingenuity to convince the 27th, Viktor Orban’s Hungary, not to block the process.
The Hungarian Prime Minister fiercely opposed any accession discussions with Ukraine, judging that this country was not ready.
Mr. Orban finally agreed to leave the summit table of the leaders of the Twenty-Seven in December, until his 26 counterparts decided to open accession negotiations with kyiv and Chisinau.
– “Screening” –
These intergovernmental conferences now open, the negotiators will first review the legislation of Ukraine and Moldova to check whether they are compatible with the EU.
This stage, “screening” in Brussels jargon, normally lasts one to two years, a diplomatic source explained.
But in the case of Ukraine and Moldova, things will go faster because “we already have a fairly clear idea” of the situation, underlined this European diplomat, on condition of anonymity.
The EU granted candidate status for membership to Ukraine in June 2022, in a highly symbolic gesture a few months after the start of the war unleashed by Moscow, as well as to neighboring Moldova (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD )
However, it will take several weeks, even several months, before the different negotiation chapters are actually opened.
“Ukraine will be a member of the European Union, and we will be able to complete everything before 2030,” promised the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister.
The EU heads of state and government had opened the way for these accession negotiations in mid-December 2023.
But Budapest has so far held back the formal opening of discussions with kyiv, judging that the conditions were not met.
“If I stick to what I see here as we speak, they (the Ukrainians) are very far from meeting the accession criteria,” Hungarian Minister of European Affairs Janos Boka repeated on Tuesday in Luxembourg.
Olga Stefanichyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, speaks to the press at a General Affairs Council ahead of an intergovernmental conference dedicated to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, at the EU Council building in Luxembourg on June 25. 2024. (AFP/Jean-Christophe Verhaegen)
The European Commission, for its part, estimated on June 7 that Ukraine and Moldova had fulfilled all the prerequisites for such accession.
The EU had granted candidate status for membership to Ukraine in June 2022, in a highly symbolic gesture a few months after the start of the war triggered by Moscow, as well as to neighboring Moldova.
The opening of negotiations is only one step in a long and arduous accession process. A possible entry into the EU of Ukraine, a country of more than 40 million inhabitants and an agricultural power, poses numerous difficulties, starting with that of the financial aid from which it should benefit.
The EU, for its part, plans to reform itself to cope with this enlargement and improve its governance and decision-making, which is already often complex among 27 member states.
© 2024 AFP
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