\nAs
\nexpected by all commentators, EU leaders granted Ukraine and the
\nRepublic of Moldova the status of EU candidate countries, while
\nGeorgia, which also requested this status, was encouraged to continue
\nreform to be able to one day obtain this status. The participants to
\nthe European Council summit in Brussels hailed what they described as
\na historic day for the Union, which is opening its doors to three
\nmore ex-Soviet republics almost two decades after the accession of
\nthe Baltic states.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was keen to
\nemphasise that all three of them are already part of the European
\nfamily. She also said there can no better sign of hope for the
\ncitizens of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in these troubled times,
\nbut that they all have
\nhomework to do before moving to the next stage of the accession
\nprocess.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nA
\nneighbour of Ukraine and Moldova and connected to
\nthe latter by a shared language, culture and history, Romania is
\nspecifically
\ninterested in the success of the reforms of the new EU candidate
\ncountries. President Klaus Iohannis emphasised that the governments
\nin Chi\u015fin\u0103u and Kyiv must get to work as soon as possible and said
\nRomania will give Moldova all the assistance it needs. Klaus
\nIohannis:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nI
\nthink we can say that this step has changed the paradigm of the EU
\nenlargement, with the enlargement policy receiving new impetus. I
\nbelieve Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have also been
\ngiven an impetus and I’m convinced everyone will seriously get down
\nto work to implement the reforms, procedures and projects that are
\nstill needed before the next step.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nPresident
\nIohannis was the first EU leader to congratulate his Moldovan
\ncounterpart Maia Sandu. The president of the European Council Charles
\nMichel posted a Twitter message in Romanian and Ukrainian, saying
\nthis is a historic moment and an extremely important step for the two
\ncountries’ path to the European Union.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe
\ninternational media have also reported on
\na less enthusiastic statement by Albanian prime minister Edi Rama,
\nwho advised Ukrainian people not to make many illusions, because the
\naccession process is very long: North
\nMacedonia is a candidate for 17
\nyears if I have not lost count, Albania since eight, so welcome to
\nUkraine,
\nRama joked on his arrival in Brussels to attend the EU-Western
\nBalkans summit. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Soviet republics Moldova and Ukraine are granted the status of candidates to EU accession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":92670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29120,29130,28905],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-92669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-eu","tag-moldova","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n