Moldova and Ukraine receive EU candidate status

Former Soviet republics Moldova and Ukraine are granted the status of candidates to EU accession.

Bogdan Matei, 24.06.2022, 14:00

As
expected by all commentators, EU leaders granted Ukraine and the
Republic of Moldova the status of EU candidate countries, while
Georgia, which also requested this status, was encouraged to continue
reform to be able to one day obtain this status. The participants to
the European Council summit in Brussels hailed what they described as
a historic day for the Union, which is opening its doors to three
more ex-Soviet republics almost two decades after the accession of
the Baltic states.

The
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was keen to
emphasise that all three of them are already part of the European
family. She also said there can no better sign of hope for the
citizens of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in these troubled times,
but that they all have
homework to do before moving to the next stage of the accession
process.

A
neighbour of Ukraine and Moldova and connected to
the latter by a shared language, culture and history, Romania is
specifically
interested in the success of the reforms of the new EU candidate
countries. President Klaus Iohannis emphasised that the governments
in Chişinău and Kyiv must get to work as soon as possible and said
Romania will give Moldova all the assistance it needs. Klaus
Iohannis:

I
think we can say that this step has changed the paradigm of the EU
enlargement, with the enlargement policy receiving new impetus. I
believe Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have also been
given an impetus and I’m convinced everyone will seriously get down
to work to implement the reforms, procedures and projects that are
still needed before the next step.

President
Iohannis was the first EU leader to congratulate his Moldovan
counterpart Maia Sandu. The president of the European Council Charles
Michel posted a Twitter message in Romanian and Ukrainian, saying
this is a historic moment and an extremely important step for the two
countries’ path to the European Union.

The
international media have also reported on
a less enthusiastic statement by Albanian prime minister Edi Rama,
who advised Ukrainian people not to make many illusions, because the
accession process is very long: North
Macedonia is a candidate for 17
years if I have not lost count, Albania since eight, so welcome to
Ukraine,
Rama joked on his arrival in Brussels to attend the EU-Western
Balkans summit. (CM)