Germany: Ukraine has met the conditions for the start of accession negotiations

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting “De Sight” publication, the German federal government considers that Ukraine’s requirements for the start of accession negotiations with the European Union have been met and believes that the negotiations can begin in early June.

Thus, according to the assessment of the German government, Ukraine has implemented all the reform requirements in order to start negotiations on EU membership. In response to the German news agency’s question, Anna Luhrmann (Greens) said: “From the point of view of the federal government, Ukraine meets all the necessary conditions for the start of EU accession negotiations in June.” Therefore, we insist on the rapid agreement of all member states on the negotiating framework.

The European Union has already decided to start accession talks with Ukraine and its neighboring country in December. slow However, it was agreed at the same time that all reform requirements must be met before negotiations can begin. According to the report of the European Union Commission, some reforms to fight corruption, protect minorities and control the influence of oligarchs have not been fully implemented in Ukraine.

According to Whether there will be a quick agreement on the negotiating framework could be determined at next week’s meeting of EU ambassadors from member states, Brussels diplomats said. The negotiation framework specifies the guidelines and principles of accession negotiations. This is a prerequisite for the start of negotiations and must be decided unanimously by the 27 EU member states.

According to Hungary, in particular, is still unclear, according to diplomats. Is. Accordingly, the Hungarian government does not agree with the current draft of the negotiation framework and, among other things, wants the issue of minority protection to be raised more clearly there. Hungary strongly criticizes Ukraine’s desire to join the European Union.

At the European Union summit in December, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban opposed Ukraine joined this union. Ultimately, the decision to start accession talks was delayed only because Orban left the meeting room to make a decision.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this crisis became an essential issue for the security of Europe and the world. In February 2022, a week after the start of the war, Ukraine submitted a letter of application for EU membership, officially starting the process of joining the EU.

In June 2023, the EU quickly granted Ukraine candidate status and announced in December that it had agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine. While confirming Ukraine’s candidacy status in June 2023, the EU set seven conditions for Ukraine, including reforms to the Constitutional Court, the rule of law, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, de-oligarization, media law and protection of national minorities. .

The European Union emphasized that accession negotiations can only begin when these requirements are met. The Ukrainian government pledged to complete the reforms as soon as possible. In November 2023, 6 months after receiving candidate status, Ukraine reported to the EU that it had implemented four of the seven requirements and was making good progress on the remaining three. As a result, questions about the start of accession talks with Ukraine were raised during the December 2023 EU summit of the Council of Europe.

Before the summit, the situation was not so optimistic. The start of accession negotiations requires the unanimous decision of the European Council. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, strongly opposes Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.

Of course, the expectation Orban was supposed to use the veto in this summit to prevent Ukraine’s accession. However, surprisingly, when EU leaders voted on whether to start the accession process, Orban walked out of the room, meaning he abstained. As a result, accession negotiations between the European Union and Ukraine have begun, and Ukraine can now begin the second phase of the accession process. The field of reforms and obtaining EU authorization to start accession negotiations has been received, but there is still a long way to go. According to statistics, the second phase of accession negotiations is much longer. Is. On average, it takes about four years from the beginning of the accession negotiations to the official accession. In addition, Ukraine needs years to strengthen the judiciary and independent media, fight corruption, reform the security structure, and build healthy public institutions to meet EU standards.

Now, according to the assessment of the German government, Ukraine has implemented all the reform requirements to start negotiations for EU membership.

end of message/