On Tuesday 25 June, Ukraine officially opened its EU accession negotiations in Luxembourg, a move welcomed by many European affairs ministers, as well as the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, who described the day as “historic”.
Ukraine applied to join the EU in February 2022, a few days after the Russian invasion, and was granted candidate status in June 2022. In December 2023, EU leaders decided to open accession negotiations with the country.
“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in relations between Ukraine and the European Union”, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in a video conference at the start of the intergovernmental conference.
“This is a truly historic moment for my country. The whole nation stands united behind this decision. This is a very important step for the future of Ukraine, its future membership of the European Union, but also for the future development of Ukraine”, summed up the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, who hoped that her country would join the EU before 2030.
While welcoming the work already accomplished by Ukraine - in particular the numerous reforms, despite the war that the country is undergoing - the Belgian minister, Hadja Lahbib, pointed out that “the road will be long and not easy, there is a lot of work to be done” to adopt the Community acquis and meet the Copenhagen criteria. “The accession negotiations we are opening today will be rigorous and demanding”, she added.
The screening process will now begin, and could take several months. “The Commission will launch the process, which will enable us to identify all the issues to be dealt with during the negotiations and the areas where preparations need to be stepped up”, explained the Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi.
This preparation time will make it possible to get round the obstacle of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Last week, when presenting the official programme of the Presidency, the Hungarian Minister for European Affairs, János Bóka, explained that “according to (his) expectations, during the Hungarian Presidency, the issue of opening chapters (for accession negotiations) will not be addressed at all”. On the morning of Tuesday 25 June, he added that Ukraine was still a long way from joining the EU. “From what I can see here as we speak, they are a long way from meeting the membership criteria”, said the minister.
Asked about this, Ms Stefanishyna pointed out that Hungary had supported the negotiating framework with a specific clause relating to bilateral issues and bilateral dialogue. According to Mr Bóka, Ukraine needs to put in place an action plan on minority issues. “We attach great importance to our bilateral dialogue, which I hope will enable Hungary not to block other decisions concerning Ukraine’s accession”, stressed the Ukrainian minister.
See the EU position: https://aeur.eu/f/ctf (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)