Ukraine is set to officially launch membership talks with the European Union on Tuesday in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described as a dream come true for his country’s citizens more than two years into a war with Russia.
Deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Olga Stefanishyna will lead Ukraine’s delegation at an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg marking the official opening of talks to align the country’s laws and standards with those of the 27-nation bloc.
The ceremony in Luxembourg will be more about symbolism than the nitty-gritty of negotiations, which will start in earnest only after the EU has screened reams of Ukrainian legislation to assess all the reforms needed to meet the bloc’s standards, Reuters reported.
But by marking the start of talks with Ukraine, and with its neighbour Moldova later in the day, the EU is signalling that both countries are on a path away from Russian influence and towards greater integration with the west.
The moment will be poignant for many Ukrainians, who trace their current conflict with Moscow back to the Maidan uprising of 2014, when protesters toppled a pro-Russian president who reneged on a pledge to develop closer ties with the EU.
A few hours later, Moldova, which applied to join the EU after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and was granted candidate status four months later, will take part in a separate intergovernmental conference to officially launch its own accession process.
Ukraine, too, sought candidate status in the days after Russia invaded. By June 2022, EU leaders had quickly made it official. But things have moved more slowly since then and membership, if it comes, might be years away.
Turkey’s accession talks have lasted almost two decades without result.
Still, starting the talks process is sending another strong signal of solidarity with Ukraine beyond the billions in financial support the EU has provided. It’s also a show of support for Moldova, which has faced its own challenges with Russia.
“Generations of our people are realizing their European dream. Ukraine is returning to Europe,” Zelenskyy said in an online post after EU member states agreed on Friday to open the talks.
Tuesday’s intergovernmental conference marks the launch of talks but the negotiations themselves are unlikely to begin for a few months.
Candidate countries must bring their laws and standards into line with those of the EU in 35 policy areas, known as chapters, ranging from the free movement of goods through fisheries, taxation, energy and the environment to judicial rights and security.
Unanimous agreement must be given by all 27 member countries to open or close chapters, providing ample opportunity for EU nations to demand more work or to delay proceedings.
The EU’s executive told member states this month that Ukraine and Moldova had met all the criteria needed to launch the talks.
As it has battled to hold off Russia’s invading forces on the front line, Kyiv has impressed its European supporters by managing to launch key reforms.
Pressure has grown to move Ukraine onto the next step in its quest for membership, in the face of fears that Hungary could stall progress when it takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in July.
Hungary—the friendliest country to Russia in the EU—has said it does not intend to hold any further rounds of talks with Ukraine during its six months at the helm.
Hungary, which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency from Belgium in July, has routinely put the brakes on EU and NATO support for Ukraine.
“We are still at the beginning of the screening process. It’s very difficult to say at what stage Ukraine is in. From what I see here, as we speak, they are very far from meeting the accession criteria,” Hungarian Minister for European Affairs Janos Boka said as he arrived at the venue.
Bordering EU members Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, Ukraine would overtake France to become the largest member of the bloc if it joined, shifting its center of gravity further eastward. As a top grain producer its entry would have a huge impact on EU agriculture policy.
Together with Moldova, Ukraine stands in a long line of EU hopefuls — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey — with yearslong membership aspirations and which have felt left behind by Kyiv’s rapid progress.
Spanish State Secretary for European Affairs Fernando Sampedro Marcos praised both countries for their preparatory work, saying they have made “a tremendous effort in very difficult circumstances in the last months.”
Charles Michel, who presides the European Council, described Tuesday's talks as "a proud moment for both nations and a strategic step for the EU."
But EU leaders have since been quick to point out that enlargement remains a "merit-based" process, despite appetite to fast-track Ukraine and Moldova's bids.
"The accession negotiations are designed to prepare the candidates for the responsibilities of membership, and this is why there are no shortcuts," von der Leyen said.
Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has injected a new sense of urgency into an EU enlargement policy that has been stagnating for years, with Michel recently asserting that the bloc must either enlarge to integrate its eastern flank, or face a new Iron Curtain.
“Of course, this requires reforms and it’s a merit-based process,” he noted, and paid tribute to the countries of the Western Balkans which also want to join. “We will not leave them behind.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to take on new members, after years in which countries particularly in the Western Balkans made little progress on their hope to join.
The EU in December 2023 also granted candidate status to another of Russia’s former Soviet neighbours, Georgia.
It has also approved accession negotiations with Bosnia and has opened such talks with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.
Ukraine wants to join by 2030, but it must carry out dozens of institutional and legal reforms first. That daunting list is led by steps to combat corruption and includes broad reforms to public administration and judiciary.
AP/AFP/Reuters/Euronews
Siddhartha 