EC likely to evaluate Ukraine's reforms progress in late February
Photo: EC plans to assess progress of reforms in Ukraine for EU accession talks (flick.com/libereurope)
The European Commission may provide an assessment of Ukraine's progress in implementing reforms crucial for EU membership negotiations, by the end of winter. This evaluation will determine the start of talks on the country's future EU membership, writes Radio Liberty correspondent Rikard Jozwiak on X.
He stated that the assessment by Brussels would also cover Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as specified in the November enlargement report of the European Union.
The European Commission is reportedly planning to provide the reform progress assessment on February 27, although this date is not final and may be subject to change.
European Commission plans to evaluate the progress of Eurointegration reforms in Ukraine (Photo: Twitter.com/RikardJozwiak)
Ukraine's EU accession talks
The negotiations between Ukraine and the EU on accession have progressed significantly. To recap, on November 8, 2023, the European Commission recommended to the European Council to initiate accession negotiations with Ukraine to the European Union. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, noted that Kyiv had fulfilled 90% of the necessary reforms to start the negotiations.
On December 14, during a summit in Brussels, the leaders of EU member states approved the start of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. During the voting, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the meeting room and did not block the decision of the European Council. His departure was prompted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
It's worth noting that Hungary could potentially block the negotiations, as they claim it may cause "damage" to Budapest. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced his intention to veto Ukraine's accession to the EU at a later stage of the process.
For more details on what accession negotiations with the EU entail and when they are expected to begin, you can refer to RBC-Ukraine's coverage.
