The official start of negotiations for the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency, newspaper ” Pasir Noye Perse wrote in an article: Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought an unexpected dynamic to the expansion process of the European Union.

Which countries could one day join the European Union, for years Balkan countries such as Montenegro or Serbia were mainly mentioned. But Russia’s war policy fundamentally changed this process. Ukraine and its small neighboring country Moldova have been nominated for EU membership in a very short period of time and can also celebrate the official start of EU accession negotiations today. Now the question is whether the European Union will soon be bigger than before Brexit?

This stage is especially psychologically and symbolically important. In this way, the European Union shows more than 35 million people in Ukraine and 2.4 million people in Moldova that they have the prospect of EU citizenship. This should be a sign that it is worth fighting for freedom and democracy.

“Michael Galler”, a foreign policy expert of the Christian Democratic Party, said at the beginning of the negotiation process that for For Ukrainians, the European Union is a “hopeful escape from the dark daily life of war.” They had high hopes for the EU.

Since there is no war in Moldova, the situation there is somewhat different, but the EU also has a strategic interest in protecting its citizens. This neighboring country considers Ukraine on the way to the European Union.

David McAllister, an official of the Christian Democratic Party of Germany, who was recently the head of the European Union’s Foreign Relations Committee, Explains: The Republic of Moldova has been openly targeted by the Kremlin for its solidarity with Ukraine and pro-European orientation led by its president, Maia Sandu. This is especially evident before the upcoming presidential elections in October.

Of course, the term negotiation is somewhat misleading in the EU. Finally, it is a matter of the EU telling the candidate countries what they still need to do to be accepted into the union. The main goal is to adapt national legal regulations to EU laws and to make the economy and management of these countries suitable for the EU.

EU requirements for countries are divided into 35 chapters. . For example, initially the main concern is that countries meet the initial conditions of accession. Then this includes issues such as the rule of law and justice.

The first step in the accession conference of Ukraine and Moldova in Luxembourg will be to provide guidelines and principles of negotiations to the two countries. . According to EU diplomats, the first chapters of negotiations are expected to open in the next twelve months. conduct negotiation chapters to check to what extent the candidate country’s national laws still deviate from the EU laws. and primarily depends on the progress of reforms in candidate countries. For example, accession negotiations with Turkey began in 2005 – and today they are completely stalled due to controversial conditions on the rule of law issue. Also, the unanimous decision of all EU countries to open and close the 35 negotiation chapters is necessary, which creates risks of deadlock.

Hungary, especially when it comes to Ukraine will be considered as a risk factor. At the start of the talks, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told newspapers from the Funke media group that for him it was “a purely politically motivated process”. He stressed that he does not think that it is a good idea to start negotiations on this matter without clarity on some issues. It explored the consequences of accepting a country at war whose borders are not de facto defined. According to him, in addition, it should be examined what consequences the accession of this big country will have for EU agriculture.

When it comes to borders, Ukraine It probably won’t be able to join the EU until the war with Russia is over. Otherwise, Kyiv can request military assistance from other EU countries under Article 42(7) of the Treaty on European Union – and the EU will officially be a party to the war.

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