BRUSSELS: European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, in a show of support in the face of Russia’s war.
“A historic moment. Today marks a crucial step on your path toward the EU,” Michel wrote on Twitter during a summit in Brussels.
“Our future is together.”
Ukraine applied to become an EU candidate in a bid to cement its place in Europe just days after Moscow launched its devastating invasion.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the move sent a “very strong signal” to the Kremlin that the EU backs the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine.
“We owe it to the Ukrainian people who are fighting to defend our values, their sovereignty, their territorial integrity,” he said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter hailed the EU’s decision “a unique and historic moment in Ukraine-EU relations,” adding that “Ukraine’s future is within the EU.”
The decision sets the two ex-Soviet nations at the start of a years-long path toward joining the bloc requiring major reforms and protracted negotiations.
The EU has laid out a series of steps for Kyiv to take, including on bolstering the rule-of-law and fighting corruption, before it can progress to the next stage entailing accession talks.
Moldova and Georgia, two countries that also have part of their territory occupied by the Kremlin’s forces, handed in applications in Ukraine’s slipstream.
EU leaders agreed to offer Georgia a “European perspective” but said it must carry out a raft of steps before it can become a candidate.
Georgia reacted by saying it was determined to take steps required to qualify.
“We are ready to work with determination over the next months to reach the candidate status,” President Salome Zurabishvili said on Twitter.
EU leaders agree candidate status for Ukraine, Moldova
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EU leaders agree candidate status for Ukraine, Moldova
- The move sent a "very strong signal" to the Kremlin that the EU backs the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine
- Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter hailed the EU's decision "a unique and historic moment in Ukraine-EU relations"
India plans AI ‘data city’ on staggering scale
- ‘The data city is going to come in one ecosystem ... with a 100 kilometer radius’
NEW DELHI: As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new “data city” to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
“The AI revolution is here, no second thoughts about it,” said Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, which is positioning the city of Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India’s AI push.
“And as a nation ... we have taken a stand that we’ve got to embrace it,” he said ahead of an international AI summit next week in New Delhi.
Lokesh boasts the state has secured investment agreements of $175 billion involving 760 projects, including a $15 billion investment by Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the United States.
And a joint venture between India’s Reliance Industries, Canada’s Brookfield and US firm Digital Realty is investing $11 billion to develop an AI data center in the same city.
Visakhapatnam — home to around two million people and popularly known as “Vizag” — is better known for its cricket ground that hosts international matches than cutting-edge technology.
But the southeastern port city is now being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore.
“The data city is going to come in one ecosystem ... with a 100 kilometer radius,” Lokesh said. For comparison, Taiwan is roughly 100 kilometers wide.
Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had “received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments” to India in 2025.
“It’s not just about the data centers,” he explained while outlining a sweeping vision of change, with Andhra Pradesh offering land at one US cent per acre for major investors.
