12 Countries Urge Belgium to Advance Ukraine and Moldova’s EU Accession Talks

Led by the Czech Republic’s Minister for European Affairs, Martin Dvorak, a group of 12 EU nations has called on Belgium, the current president of the Council of the European Union, to expedite the process of accession talks for Ukraine and Moldova.

“I believe that now is the right time to move forward and take concrete steps in the process of Ukraine’s and Moldova’s accession to the EU,” Dvorak said.

The letter, co-signed by 11 other EU member states — Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia — was addressed to Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Labib.

“The EU Council should ‘no later than’ June approve the negotiating frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova, allowing for the convening of intergovernmental conferences with both countries by the end of this month,” as stated in the letter.

EU Ambassador to Kyiv Katarina Maternova also pointed out that Ukraine is ready to begin accession talks with the EU.

The letter encourages the EU Council to consider approving negotiating frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova by June. If approved, this would allow for intergovernmental conferences with both countries to take place later in the month.

It was reported earlier that formal accession negotiations might start as early as June 25.