The move comes two years after both countries applied for EU membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
advertisement
Formal talks between Ukraine and Moldova on joining the European Union are set to begin on Tuesday, a move hailed as historic and likely to raise hopes that the two countries will eventually become EU members, despite the escalating war in Ukraine.
The negotiations will begin on Tuesday afternoon with two successive intergovernmental meetings in Luxembourg, attended by all two interested countries, the European Commission and the Council’s rotating presidency, currently held by Belgium.
The Ukrainian delegation will be led by the country’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Olga Stefanishina, while the Moldovan delegation will be led by Prime Minister Dorin Lešan.
Speaking after her arrival, Stefanishina described the meeting as a “historic moment” for Ukraine and a decision that “brings the entire nation together.”
“Ukraine has decided to continue its thoroughgoing reforms despite the war and the extremely difficult situation, while under bombardment and with lives at risk,” Belgian Foreign Minister Haja Labib said.
“I want to assure Ukraine that it can always count on the European Commission’s continued support on its path to the EU,” European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varley said after meeting with the Ukrainian delegation. “I am convinced of Ukraine’s determination to work hard during the negotiations.”
“Our common future begins now”
While Tuesday’s meeting is largely symbolic, it means the European Commission can move forward in a process to review Kyiv and Chisinau’s national laws to align them with EU law in areas such as energy, financial services and food safety.
The two countries will also be presented with a negotiating framework, drawn up to guide accession talks and approved by EU member states last week.
EU diplomats said the initial review process usually takes one to two years but could be quicker this time given that free trade agreements with Ukraine and Moldova in 2014 already meant the two countries comply with some EU standards and regulations.
The start of negotiations is one of many milestones in a process that typically takes years and requires countries to make judicial, economic and constitutional reforms before they are considered ready to join the EU. Previous candidate countries have taken an average of about 10 years to join the EU.
Seven more countries are currently awaiting EU membership, five of which are already in formal negotiations – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the Western Balkans country of Serbia.
“We are on the threshold of a crucial and transformative moment for these two countries and for our EU,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a video message on Tuesday. She added that Ukraine and Moldova’s path to EU membership will be “tough and challenging.”
“Our common future starts now,” said Roberta Mezzola, president of the European Parliament.
European Council President Charles Michel described Tuesday’s meeting as “a proud moment for both countries and a strategic step for the EU.”
“Ukraine’s efforts are all the more commendable given the unprecedented difficulties and adversities that Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has brought,” Michel added. “The Ukrainian people have shown extraordinary courage and unity in defending their country’s sovereignty and its European future.”
Mr Michel has previously called for the EU to speed up its own enlargement preparations, suggesting it should be ready to welcome new member states by 2030.
“It’s hard to be enthusiastic”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Stefanishina insisted on Tuesday that Kyiv “can get everything done by 2030.”
“Ukraine has a very high capacity to react quickly, so I am sure that if the European Commission is ready, we can react even faster,” she added.
advertisement
But when asked whether the EU could admit new member states during its next five-year term, due to end in late 2029, Vaalehelyi said: “It’s not a question of whether the EU sets a deadline or not.”
“If we were to rely solely on Ukraine, the deadlines would be much more optimistic,” Stefanishina added.
John O’Brennan, professor of European integration at Maynooth University, warned Euronews on Tuesday that the accession process would likely be long and complicated.
“If you look at the recent history of the enlargement process, it’s very hard to be enthusiastic. Why? Because the whole process has been stalled for most of the last 15 years with no real results,” O’Brennan said. “The simple truth is that there has not been the political will in the EU to really get behind enlargement and make it a higher priority on the European Council’s agenda.”
He pointed to recent friction between Poland and Ukraine over tariff-free Ukrainian agricultural imports as a sign that even the most pro-Ukrainian EU member state would oppose Kyiv integration if it came at a cost.
advertisement
Ukraine’s per capita GDP is one-third that of Bulgaria, the EU’s smallest economy, and its membership could destabilize the EU’s fiscal architecture and turn many EU countries from net recipients to net donors.
“Ukraine’s accession would potentially mean a complete transformation of the EU budget. We won’t be able to keep the EU budget at 1 percent of GDP; it will potentially need to be doubled or tripled. And many of the more recent member states that have benefited from EU structural funds will see their share significantly reduced,” he added.
“There are no shortcuts”
EU leaders were quick to point out that despite their desire to fast-track the membership applications of Ukraine and Moldova, expansion remains a “meritocratic” process.
“The accession negotiations are aimed at preparing the candidates to fulfil the responsibilities of member states, which is why there are no shortcuts,” von der Leyen said.
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has brought a new sense of urgency to EU enlargement policy, which had been stalled for many years, with Michel recently arguing that the EU must choose between expanding and integrating the eastern bloc or facing a new Iron Curtain.
advertisement
Negotiating frameworks for both Ukraine and Moldova were quickly adopted, with the European Commission breaking with precedent by recommending that talks begin last December before the two countries had fully implemented the necessary reforms.
Hungary, meanwhile, opposes speeding up Ukraine’s membership application, with President Viktor Orban’s government citing concerns about deep corruption in the country and a lack of measures to protect the rights of ethnic Hungarian minorities in the border region of Transcarpathia.
EU member states have so far been able to fend off Orban’s opposition, for example by strategically asking him to walk out of negotiating sessions and abstain from decisions to start talks.
There are fears that progress in Ukraine could slow over the next six months as Hungary’s nationalist conservative government takes over the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU from Belgium.
Tuesday’s intergovernmental meeting was held to put the two countries on the path to membership before Hungary takes control of the council.
advertisement
Resentment toward Orban’s government has grown among EU diplomats in recent months as he continues to refuse to make key decisions on military aid to Ukraine. On Monday, the EU agreed to send 1.4 billion euros in arms and industrial aid to Ukraine, in a deal that bypassed Hungary.
But Stefanishina said on Tuesday that “Ukraine does not consider the Hungarian presidency to be an obstacle.”
The EU executive’s role in enlargement has also been led by Hungarian Commissioner Oliver Varley for the past five years. Sigfried Muresan, president of the Moldova-EU delegation to the European Parliament, told reporters last week that Hungarians should not be leading the EU’s enlargement plans, saying Orban’s entourage in Brussels was creating a “problem” for the accession drive.
