This Wednesday, Portugal joined 11 other member states in a joint letter to Belgium’s semi-annual EU presidency calling for an Intergovernmental Conference to be convened in June to negotiate the accession of Ukraine and Moldova.
“We jointly call for the adoption by the General Affairs Council, no later than June 2024, of a negotiating framework for Ukraine and Moldova, with a view to convening intergovernmental conferences with both countries by the end of June 2024,” writes Foreign Minister Paulo. Rangel together with his colleagues from Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Sweden.
Ministers from the 12 member states believe that “the start of accession negotiations will provide additional motivation for both Ukraine and Moldova,” especially given the “dire situation on the ground in Ukraine and the proximity of presidential elections and the EU referendum.” in Moldova”.
The signatories also argue that the two candidate countries to join the European bloc have already shown results in their reform efforts, meaning “the time to move forward” has come.
The next meeting of the Council of EU General Affairs Ministers is scheduled for the 18th, with Belgium’s rotating presidency ending on June 30, followed by Hungary’s in the second half of the year.
Kyiv officially applied for EU membership on February 28, 2022, and Chisinau on March 3, 2022. Both have had candidate status since June 23 of that year, and the start of accession negotiations was approved by the European Council in December 2023.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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