Summary of the day
The European Commission took the historic step of formally recommending to member states that they should open EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
The commission also said it recommended that the council adopt so-called negotiating frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova once they had adopted certain key measures.
For Georgia, the commission recommended the status of a candidate country but on the understanding that a number of steps were taken.
In the complex case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the commission said it recommended the opening of accession negotiations “once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved”.
The commission said Serbia needed to improve its alignment with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, including when it came to Russia.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said following the commission announcement that “this is a strong and historic step that paves the way to a stronger EU with Ukraine as its member”.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said in an emotional post that “our fight and sacrifices are not in vain”.
Nicu Popescu, Moldova’s foreign minister, wrote on social media that the commission’s recommendation “is a testament to our progress”.
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said that the people of Ukraine belonged to the European family and that a stronger, larger and united EU was the geopolitical answer to Russia’s war of aggression.
The commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, warned in a speech to the European parliament that “if our union isn’t fast enough in bringing candidate countries closer, others will fill the vacuum”.
The European parliament president, Roberta Metsola, wrote that “an enlarged EU means a stronger EU”.
Elina Valtonen, Finland’s foreign minister, emphasised that “merit-based enlargement makes the union more prosperous and resilient”.
Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, called today’s moves “fully deserved recognition of their comprehensive reform efforts”.
The recommendation that the EU opens accession talks was described by the EU Commission as “unconditional”, puzzling reporters. Officials insisted the “unconditional” and “preconditions” are reconcilable as the reforms they are talking about are mere “leftovers”.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, chair of the Ukrainian parliament’s committee on integration to the EU, said that Ukrainians were happy with the European Commission’s move today, but also cautioned that accession should not be dependent on EU internal reforms.
Adnan Ćerimagić, a senior analyst at the European Stability Initiative, said that when it came to Bosnia and Herzegovina, “with a wording of today’s recommendation, the European Commission found an elegant way to balance between expectations of different actors involved”.
Updated
Enlargement in 'common interest', Von der Leyen tells EU parliament
Speaking at the European parliament this afternoon, the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said “there’s a new sense of urgency to unite our European family”.
Today it is clear that the stability of every country in our continent affects, of course, also our own stability. Their security is our security. And if our union isn’t fast enough in bringing candidate countries closer, others will fill the vacuum.
But it is in our geopolitical interest to complete our union, to make it stronger than ever.
And it’s not only about geopolitics. It’s of course also about economics. The completion of our union will make the new member states’ economies grow, it will make EU companies grow, it will also make our single market grow, making Europe an even more attractive and stronger partner in the global stage.
Prosperity is not only shared by enlargement, it is multiplied. Enlargement is in our common interest. So we must seize this moment of opportunity to advance as much as possible towards the completion of our union.
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