BRUSSELS, May 21. /TASS/. The European Union intends to start formal negotiations on admitting Moldova and Ukraine to the association as early as June 25, the European edition of the Politico newspaper reported citing five diplomats.
According to Politico, the association's member states were ready to do this back in December, but the decision was postponed amid Hungary's disagreement and fears that the issue of EU enlargement could muddy the waters in the European Parliament elections to be held on June 6-9.
According to the newspaper, an EU-Ukraine intergovernmental conference is scheduled for June 25. The desire to make some progress on the issue of EU expansion stems from the fact that on July 1, the presidency of the EU Council will pass from Belgium to Hungary. According to the newspaper's sources, it is still unclear how Budapest would react to Ukraine being brought into the organization. "As always, it is impossible to predict what Hungary will do until we hear from [Prime Minister Viktor] Orban himself," a diplomat quoted by the newspaper said.
Politico pointed out that Hungary could still throw a wrench into Ukraine's plans to join the EU, thus Kiev is "engaging in intensive bilateral diplomacy" with Budapest, primarily concerning the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, in order to change the minds of the country’s authorities. According to the newspaper, Hungary presented an 11-point document outlining its main concerns regarding a possible expansion. Kiev has proposed measures to remedy the situation and is waiting for a response from the Hungarian authorities, the newspaper said. Meanwhile, the Netherlands is also opposed to the new countries joining the EU, though Politico did not provide any details on this issue.
The European Commission announced on 12 March that it had developed a framework guide for future accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and would present it to the EU Council. According to the EC, the framework guide sets out guidelines for accession negotiations with each candidate country. After the European Commission presents the guidelines to the member states and the EU Council approves the guidelines, Brussels will actually start negotiations with Kiev and Chisinau.
At a meeting in Brussels on December 14-15, 2023, EU leaders decided to launch negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their admission to the association. However, the European Commission had to first choose a "suitable moment" to actually launch the negotiations, prepare a framework guideline for them and submit it to the EU Council. The negotiations are not expected to start until the fall.