0 out of 25,000

Quality journalism takes work — and a community that cares.
Help us reach 25,000 members by the end of 2025.

News Feed

EU ambassadors approve starting accession talks with Ukraine on June 25

2 min read
EU ambassadors approve starting accession talks with Ukraine on June 25
The national flag of Ukraine and the flag of the EU are flying in the wind on April 24, 2023, in Berlin. (Monika Skolimowska/picture alliance via Getty Images)

EU ambassadors agreed on the framework for the EU accession talks for Ukraine and Moldova, allowing talks to start on June 25, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU announced on June 14.

EU and Ukrainian officials are reportedly pushing for the talks to start by June 25 before Hungary takes the presidency of the Council of the EU in July.

"Ambassadors agreed in principle on the negotiating frameworks for the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova," the Belgian presidency said on X. "The Belgian presidency will call the first intergovernmental conferences on June 25."

The European Commission announced on June 7 that it supported the start of accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.

For talks to begin, the EU needs to unanimously agree that Ukraine has undertaken measures to improve issues like corruption and the protection of minority languages. Hungary is expected to raise objections, mainly regarding minority rights.

Budapest has repeatedly claimed that the Hungarian ethnic minority concentrated in southwestern Ukraine is discriminated against due to Kyiv's language laws.

Ukraine denies the allegations and updated its national minorities law at the end of 2023 in line with the EU's recommendations.

Ukraine received EU membership candidate status in June 2022. In November 2023, the European Commission recommended launching accession talks with Kyiv. The European Council then agreed in December to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.

Opinion: Europe faces 3 choices in combating the far-right surge
Avatar
Elsa Court

Audience Development Manager

News Feed
Video

The Kyiv Independent’s Oleksiy Sorokin sits down with Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, to discuss Ukraine’s biggest wartime corruption scandal, which involves people from President Volodymyr Zelensky's circle and several government officials.

Show More