The opening of cluster accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova is a historic step forward, a group of MEPs said. This, Ukrinform reports, is stated in a joint statement signed by David McAllister, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Pekka Toveri, Head of the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, Siegfried Muresan, Head of the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Association Committee, Michael Haller, Standing Rapporteur of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on Ukraine, and Sven Mikser, Standing Rapporteur of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Republic of Moldova. The PromPolitInform portal informs.
“We warmly welcome the opening of accession negotiations under Cluster 1 – “Fundamentals” with Ukraine and Moldova and the holding of the relevant intergovernmental conferences. This marks a new stage on the path of the two candidate countries to the EU after the unanimous decision of the EU member states,” the lawmakers said.
They stressed that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova have shown extraordinary determination and resilience in advancing their reform agendas, and today’s decision is “a well-deserved recognition of this commitment and of the significant progress already achieved through technical negotiations.”
The opening of the cluster of fundamental principles – the cornerstones of the accession process – underlines the importance of the core values and principles on which the EU is built: the rule of law, strong democratic institutions and fundamental rights, MEPs wrote, expressing confidence that the Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities will do their utmost to fulfil their commitments throughout the accession process.
“Given the growing external threats, enlargement is one of our strongest tools to strengthen peace, security and prosperity across our continent. It remains one of the EU’s greatest achievements and our most powerful investment in our common future. A larger and more cohesive European Union serves our common interests,” MEPs wrote.
They believe that in this context, the EU should continue to prioritize the merit-based enlargement process.
“Despite the destructive Russian aggression, Ukraine continues to make progress on its path to EU accession, advancing with important reforms. Moldova continues to implement reforms with courage and determination, even in the face of enormous geopolitical pressure and internal challenges,” the lawmakers wrote.
They reiterated that the European Parliament firmly supports Ukraine and Moldova on their European integration path.
“We will continue to support their European path and their ambitious reform agenda, and will work closely with all institutions to ensure the swift, fair and ambitious advancement of this process, which this historic opportunity demands,” the signatories concluded.
As Ukrinform reported, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka said that after the opening of the first, the remaining five negotiation clusters on Ukraine’s accession to the EU are ready for formal consideration, and their opening may be a matter of the coming weeks. At the same time, Ukraine does not see “any negative scenario” regarding the possible blocking of this process by Hungary.
As a reminder, the second EU-Ukraine Accession Conference is being held in Luxembourg on June 15 after the member states approved the opening of the first cluster of negotiations on Friday, June 12. In total, there are 6 thematic clusters, covering 33 negotiation chapters. Outside these clusters, there are also two chapters that are being discussed separately, that is, there are 35 in total.
