On June 25, the first Intergovernmental Conference on Ukraine's accession to the European Union will begin in Luxembourg, which will de facto mark the official start of negotiations on the country's membership in the bloc.
Points of attention
- Ukraine will begin negotiations on joining the European Union at the Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg.
- The first Intergovernmental Conference with Ukraine includes the introductory statement of the EU presiding country, the statement of Ukraine and remarks of the member states.
- Ukraine is expected to have a chance for rapid progress in the negotiations and the possible opening of the first chapters in 2025.
- The negotiations began more than ten years after the Euromaidan when Ukrainians took to the streets to defend the country's future on the way to the EU.
Ukraine is getting closer to joining the EU
As mentioned, on June 21, the EU Council approved the negotiating framework for Ukraine and Moldova, which allowed accession negotiations to start officially.
According to the latest data, the Intergovernmental Conference with Ukraine will begin at 16:30 Kyiv time.
After that, a similar first intergovernmental conference on Moldova's accession to the EU is scheduled for 19:00 Kyiv time.
According to one of the European diplomats, the conference will consist of three parts:
opening statement of Belgium as the country holding the EU presidency;
statement of Ukraine;
speeches and comments of member states.
In addition, it is emphasized that during the event, Brussels officials will present the general framework of negotiations to Ukraine, which establishes the negotiation process's fundamental principles.
Ukraine is counting on rapid progress in the issue of EU membership
According to the latest data, the Ukrainian delegation will be headed by the Deputy PM for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Olga Stefanishyna, and the European delegation by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Labib.
The optimistic forecast, which Ukraine is counting on, foresees the opening of the first chapters or the first chapter at the beginning of 2025.
It is also worth noting that the negotiations will begin before Hungary, which is sceptical of Ukraine's European integration, replaces Belgium, takes over the European Union's presidency on July 1, and has a more significant influence on decision-making in the EU.
The fateful negotiations begin more than 10 years after thousands of Ukrainians took to the Euromaidan to defend the country's move to the EU.
