President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Viktor Kovalchuk | Getty Images
Ukraine has moved one step nearer to European Union membership after leaders in Brussels agreed to open negotiations with the war-torn nation.
In a shock announcement late Thursday, EU summit chair Charles Michel, who’s the European Council president, stated leaders had determined to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine.
“The European Council has determined to open accession negotiations with Ukraine & Moldova,” he stated by way of X, previously Twitter.
“#EUCO granted candidate standing to Georgia. And the EU will open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina as soon as the required diploma of compliance with the membership standards is reached and has invited the fee to report by March with a view to taking such a call,” he added.
“A transparent sign of hope for his or her folks and for our continent.”
The settlement comes regardless of Hungary pledging to block this determination throughout the present two-day EU summit. A handful of different member states, akin to Italy, have additionally raised points over enlarging the EU.
Details of the settlement weren’t instantly clear and there was no affirmation on whether or not talks would begin now or in March.
European heads of state had been gearing up for a difficult two-day gathering the place help for Ukraine is on the high of the agenda. The assembly comes at a crunch time for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hops the world over searching for additional support within the struggle in opposition to Russia’s invasion.
Speaking by way of X, Zelenskyy replied to Michel saying it was “a victory” for his nation and Europe. “A victory that motivates, evokes, and strengthens,” he stated, in accordance to a Reuters translation.
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, in the meantime, known as it a foul determination and said via Facebook that his nation didn’t take part within the decision-making course of.
— CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this text.