lhe European Union countries reached an agreement in principle this Friday on the negotiating frameworks for the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the EU and the first intergovernmental conferences with both countries are scheduled to be held on June 25.
According to the criteria of
“The ambassadors (of the Member States) agreed in principle on the negotiating frameworks for the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova,” the Belgian presidency of the EU Council reported on the X social network.
And he added that “the Belgian presidency will convene the first intergovernmental conferences on June 25.”
Belgium, which this semester holds the rotating presidency of the European Union and therefore sets the agenda of the meetings, set itself the goal of starting accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova this June, before passing the baton on June 1. July to Hungary.
The formal validation of the agreement in principle reached this Friday will take place at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), which will be held in Luxembourg next Friday, diplomatic sources specified, recalling that The Netherlands has to obtain the approval of the national Parliament to authorize the start of negotiations.
This is another historic moment and another very clear sign of our total and firm commitment to Ukraine
The sources stressed that “this is another historic moment and another very clear signal of our total and firm commitment to Ukraine.”
The government of Viktor Orban, Russia’s main ally in the EU, had until then been hindering the negotiating frameworks since EU leaders agreed last year to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
Hungary insisted that kyiv “restore” the rights of the magical minority in Ukraine as a condition for giving its go-ahead to the start of EU accession negotiations.
“Ukraine has complied with all the steps we requested. That is why we believe that the EU should begin accession negotiations with Ukraine at the end of this month,” said the president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der, last Tuesday. Leyen, at the Conference for the Reconstruction of Ukraine in Berlin before the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Community Executive had recommended that the EU countries begin negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, considering that they have already met the criteria demanded by Brussels in order to kick off the talks with the first intergovernmental conference.
Ukraine has taken steps to fight corruptionsuch as hiring more people to combat it and improving the verification process on funds and has regulated the role of pressure groups, as a measure to end the influence of the country’s oligarchs, said the Vecindad and Expansion of the community Executive, Ana Pisonero, just a week ago.
According to Brussels, Ukraine has also amended “relevant laws” on minorities, so that they can receive school education.
Regarding Moldova, the Commission also highlighted its “significant progress” in the fight against corruption, regulating cash payments, and that it has established “transparent” criteria for the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
Decision on new sanctions on Russia postponed
On the contrary, the EU ambassadors postponed this Friday the decision on the fourteenth package of EU sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
“A member state asked for more time, we respect it and the point of sanctions is postponed. We will return to it as soon as possible,” diplomatic sources said.
This is Germany, other European sources told Efe, who indicated that negotiations on this new package of sanctions will be resumed next week at a new meeting of the ambassadors of the member states (Coreper).
This new package of sanctions focuses, among other things, on the reloading and transfer of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in European ports, which mostly arrives in the EU through terminals in Belgium, France or Spain.
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