European Union greenlights membership talks with Ukraine, Moldova; Zelenskyy terms it 'victory'

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Pic/X

The European Council has opened membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel informed on Thursday, CNN reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the development calling it a "victory of Ukraine". "This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires, and strengthens," Zelensky posted on X (formerly Twitter).

"History is made by those who don't get tired of fighting for freedom," he added. Notably, Ukraine has held ambitions to join the European Union for more than a decade. The announcement by the European Council comes nearly two years after the bloc accepted Ukraine as a candidate state. However, a few fundamental obstacles stand in the way of Ukraine joining the bloc and it could still be a decade until Kyiv joins the EU enjoying the benefits of full membership, according to CNN.

Ukraine still needs to meet the conditions of the Copenhagen Criteria - an opaque trio of requirements that the EU must be satisfied are met - before moving to the next stage of negotiations. The criteria focus on whether or not a candidate country has a functioning free-market economy if the country's institutions are fit to uphold European values such as human rights and the EU's interpretation of the rule of law, and whether the country has a functioning, inclusive democracy, CNN reported.

Notably, these things are hard to prove for any country let alone Ukraine which is reeling under a state of war with Russia. If Ukraine can meet the Copenhagen Criteria, EU and Ukrainian officials can start negotiating under the 35 Chapters of the Acquis, which lay out the accession conditions. After this, all chapters of negotiations need to be fully closed and signed off by every EU member state before being ratified by the EU parliament.

However, despite the remaining obstacles, Thursday's announcement amounts to an important step for Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict, CNN reported. Several European leaders have welcomed the development. Ukraine is one of nine countries currently seeking membership in the EU, along with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, stated on X that "it's clear these countries belong to the European family." Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, called the decision "strategic" and "a day that will remain engraved in the history" of the European Union. "Proud that we have lived up to our promises and delighted for our partners," she stated.

Notably, Hungary and its Prime Minister Viktor Oban have proved to be the most significant 'barrier' to Ukraine's EU funding and accession talks, CNN reported. Earlier this week, Orban claimed that Ukraine still needs to meet three of the seven conditions necessary to greenlight accession talks and, therefore, said there was no current reason to negotiate EU membership for Ukraine.

Orban Thursday called the announcement that Ukraine was beginning accession negotiations "a completely senseless, irrational and incorrect decision," adding that his country "did not participate in the decision today." "Hungary's position is clear; Ukraine is not prepared to start negotiations on EU Membership," Orban posted on X. "On the other hand, 26 other countries insisted that a decision be made," he stated. "Therefore, Hungary decided that if the 26 decide to do so, they should go their own way. Hungary does not want to share in this bad decision".

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