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EU leaders to approve Ukraine and Moldova candidate status on June 23-24

As for Georgia, the EU representative said that the leaders will ask the European Commission to return to the assessment of the country’s candidate status later, given that it fulfills the necessary conditions

© AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

BRUSSELS, June 22. /TASS/. Leaders of 27 European Union countries will approve granting Ukraine and Moldova candidate status at the June 23-24 summit, a senior EU official told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

"We expect the European Council to approve the decision to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, the leaders will support it," he said.

As for Georgia, the EU representative said that the leaders will ask the European Commission to return to the assessment of the country’s candidate status later, given that it fulfills the necessary conditions.

In addition to the enlargement issue, the summit’s agenda will include the provision of military aid to Ukraine, as well as the food crisis, in particular, ways of exporting grain from this country, the EU representative pointed out. In addition, the EU leaders intend to discuss issues related to energy and gas.

On June 17, the European Commission recommended the EU summit to grant Ukraine and Moldova membership candidate status. On Tuesday, the EU member states reached a political consensus at the General Affairs Council meeting and decided to grant Ukraine candidate status at the June 23-24 summit.

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