EU and Ukraine officially start membership negotiations

The first Intergovernmental Conference for Ukraine’s EU Accession, which officially starts the negotiations regarding Ukraine’s EU membership, has begun in Luxembourg.

Source: European Pravda

Details: The conference started with the speech by Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, via video link. Then the floor was given to Hadja Lahbib, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, which presides in the European Council this semester.

The Ukrainian delegation is led by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister of European and Euroatlantic Integration of Ukraine.

"On behalf of the European Union I am delighted to welcome the respected representatives of Ukraine here today at the opening of the negotiations on your country’s accession to the EU," Lahbib stated.

At the intergovernmental conference the sides exchange positions and statements concerning the accession negotiations.

The talks themselves will basically start with opening the negotiations chapters. The first chapters and clusters to be opened will be those concerning the fundamental issues of the EU.

An optimistic forecast Ukraine hopes for provides for opening first chapters or the first chapters at the beginning of 2025.

The negotiations officially start before 1 July when Hungary, which is sceptical about the Eurointegration of Ukraine, will replace Belgium, take on the Presidency in the EU and will have a bigger influence on the adoption of decisions in the EU.

The negotiations will start over 10 years after the Euromaidan movement emerged in Ukraine, when thousands of Ukrainians participated in a large-scale protest to fight for their country's movement to the EU, and over two years after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia which has been trying to hold Ukraine in its orbit.

Ukraine aims to become an EU member by 2030, even though it is unknown how much time the negotiations will take.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, President of the EU Council, and a number of leaders of the EU member states delivered speeches after the start of negotiations.

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