As reported by the French presidency of the Union on its official Twitter account, the Twenty-seven today asked the Commission to take the first step on that path, preparing the necessary report to decide whether the EU countries grant Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia candidate country status.
“Agreement to invite the European Commission to present an opinion on each of the applications for membership of the EU presented by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova,” said the tweet, after a meeting of the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven before the community institutions, in which they discussed the issue.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the petition for EU membership last week, as part of the response to Russia’s February 24 invasion.
Moldova and Georgia followed suit immediately, fearing Moscow.
The Community Executive will now prepare a report in which it will assess whether Kiev, Chisinau and Tbilisi meet the criteria to become candidate countries to join the EU, including respect for the fundamental values of the Union, the existence of stable institutions that guarantee democracy as well as a market economy.
When Brussels completes its assessment – which is the first step in a process that usually lasts years – the EU countries must approve it unanimously and only then can accession negotiations begin.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, assured last week that “there is still a way to go” to successfully complete this enlargement process.
Today Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro are in negotiations with Brussels to join the EU and Albania and North Macedonia have obtained the status of candidate countries.
The entrance European Union agrees to start accession process of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia was first published in diary TODAY.
