“Historic week”: talks on Ukraine’s EU accession to begin tomorrow

The start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is expected on June 25, as announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his evening address.

“It’s truly a historic week. Ukraine has been moving towards this for decades, and this result is a personal achievement for everyone who chose Ukraine on February 24, who fights for our state, who strengthens Ukraine with everything necessary,” Zelenskyy said.

On June 21, the EU Council officially approved the mandate previously agreed at ambassadorial level for negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova regarding EU accession, as reported by the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council.

“This opens the way for launching the negotiations on Tuesday 25 June in Luxembourg: 15:30 – IGC (intergovernmental conference – ed.) with Ukraine; 18:00 – IGC with Moldova,” the statement said. “This is a big day for Ukraine, Moldova, and the European Union,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The intergovernmental conference Ukraine-EU marks the formal start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, emphasized Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. “Next, we will start detailed technical negotiations on dozens of different chapters of the future agreement. At the same time, we continue our integration into the European Union in all directions,” the government’s head noted.

The European Council adopted the decision on December 14 to start accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and grant Georgia candidate country status. At that time, the UWC thanked the EU leaders for their principled stance and consistent support for Ukraine’s European aspirations.