EU leaders back Ukraine's entry by giving it candidate country status

The heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) granted this Thursday to Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidate countries to enter the community club, after the European Commission (EC) made a recommendation in that regard last week .

The leaders of the Twenty-seven took today, at the summit held in Brussels, the first step in the accession of these two countries, a process that may be reversible if they do not comply with the reforms that the EC has demanded of them in terms of judicial independence, fight against corruption and organized crime or when applying the law that limits the power of the oligarchs.

The European Council decided to recognize Georgia's "European perspective" but has not yet granted it the status of a candidate country.

"Agreement. The European Council has just decided on the EU candidate status for Ukraine and Moldova," reported the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, through his official profile on the social network Twitter, in which he added that It is "a historical moment".

"Today a crucial step is taken on its path to the EU", sentenced the Belgian politician, and expressed his "congratulations" to the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, who was connected directly with the European leaders after having adopted his decision, and the Moldovan President Maia Sandu.

Zelensky "sincerely" praised the EU27's decision to grant candidate status to his country, calling it a "unique and historic moment" in EU-Ukraine relations, he posted on Twitter.

The President of the European Council also referred to the fact that they have decided to recognize Georgia's European perspective and that they are willing to grant it candidate status "once pending priorities are addressed".

"Congratulations to the Georgian people. A historic moment in EU-Georgia relations: Georgia's future lies in the EU," he said.

For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on the same social network that "today is a good day for Europe", and congratulated Zelenski, Sandu and the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili. .

"Your countries are part of our European family. And today's historic decision by the leaders confirms it. Very happy with the support of the leaders for our opinions," he said, referring to the reports prepared by the Community Executive on the three countries. , which, he added, "have work to do before moving on to the next phase of the process."

"I know they will move quickly. They know how crucial it is for their democracies, their economies and their citizens," von der Leyen said.

For German politics, the decisions taken today in Brussels "strengthen everyone", Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, "against Russian imperialism", and also the EU, he said.

"Because it shows once again to the world that we are united and strong against external threats," he concluded.

The granting of the candidacy to Ukraine and Moldova was guaranteed before the start of the summit, but the leaders took longer than initially expected to approve it because the go-ahead was preceded by a broader debate on the future of the Balkan enlargement process Westerners, according to various diplomatic sources.

A discussion that was triggered after the frustration publicly expressed by the leaders of Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo, at the end of the summit that the EU held this morning with the Western Balkans, which ended without an unblocking of their accession process .

"What is happening now is a serious problem and a serious blow to the credibility of the EU. We are wasting precious time that we do not have," said the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, referring to the veto he maintains Bulgaria to start accession negotiations with Skopje and Tirana.

After these complaints, Austria and Slovenia, mainly, pressed to explain more clearly in the conclusions of the European summit the readiness of the EU to welcome the Balkans.

This data can be specified in an explicit allusion to being able to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina the status of a candidate country if it meets the conditions of Brussels in terms of the rule of law, according to other sources.