The European Union (EU) Executive is expected to present on November 8 an assessment of the progress made by Ukraine in its candidacy for membership of the bloc, according to three officials. The advance is another fundamental step in the decision on the start of Kiev’s accession discussions to the EU.
The assessment will be made in an annual report by the European Commission in Brussels, detailing the extent to which countries seeking to join the 27-nation bloc have progressed in meeting economic, legal and other criteria.
A decision is then expected during the EU leaders’ summit on December 14 and 15 on the possibility of starting formal accession discussions with Ukraine, one of Kiev’s main priorities in the fight against the Russian invasion.
Kiev should receive a positive recommendation, possibly under additional conditions related to combating corruption and minority rights, the latter issue being raised by Hungary.
On October 9, an assessment by the Venice Commission — an advisory body to the Council of Europe, a European human rights watchdog with 46 member countries, including EU states — stated that the latest amendments to Ukraine’s law on national minorities represented an improvement, but more needed to be done.
The European Commission is expected to closely follow this opinion in its own report.
Among the other candidates, an EU official said this week that a similar recommendation could be made for Moldova, where the bloc is also engaged in a geopolitical tug of war with Russia.
As for Georgia, “it remains to be seen” whether it will receive formal candidate status, the official said, something Kiev achieved in June last year, shortly after the Russian invasion began.
All enlargement decisions require the unanimous support of all members of the bloc, something that can be difficult to achieve for countries in the Western Balkans, according to EU officials and diplomats.
Source: CNN Brasil
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