Ukraine and Moldova's EU accession: Ambassador on countries' progress evaluation
Photo: EU Ambassador to Moldova Jānis Mažeiks (Facebook)
When Ukraine and Moldova start negotiations on EU accession, their progress will be considered separately, even though the countries received candidate status simultaneously, EU Ambassador to Moldova Jānis Mažeiks claims.
“As soon as the negotiations start, it will be an individual process, there will be an in-depth consideration of Moldova and Ukraine on the merits. It will not be, for example, whether a country has succeeded in several chapters or not, it will be analyzed on the merits,” he said.
At the same time, the ambassador said that Moldova has fulfilled important conditions recommended by Brussels, but there are also shortcomings, especially in the field of justice. Thus, the Prosecutor General has not yet been appointed, and the Supreme Court of Justice is not staffed.
Ukraine's accession to the EU
In December 2023, at a summit in Brussels, EU leaders gave the go-ahead to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the bloc.
The official start of negotiations has not yet taken place. In particular, Ukrainian legislation was being screened for compliance with European requirements, and a negotiating framework was being developed.
In March 2024, the European Commission approved this negotiation framework for Ukraine.
In mid-April, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olha Stefanishyna said that the framework was expected to be approved and the first intergovernmental conference (which would officially launch the negotiation process) is also expected in the second half of June 2024.
