LUXEMBOURG: EU countries on Friday formally approved launching accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova next week, a landmark event for the two countries at the start of their long path toward joining the bloc.
European Union ministers will start negotiations first with Ukraine and then with Moldova in Luxembourg on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Ukraine — followed by its neighbor Moldova — lodged its application to join the 27-nation EU in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Starting the negotiations will still only put the two ex-Soviet states at the beginning of what is likely to be a years-long process of reforms before they can finally become members.
EU leaders took the key step in December of agreeing to open talks on war-torn Ukraine — and Moldova — joining the club.
But to actually begin the negotiations the bloc’s members still had to sign off on a formal framework for the process.
The EU’s executive told member states this month that Ukraine and Moldova had met all the criteria needed to launch the talks.
Pressure has grown to move Ukraine onto the next step in its quest for membership, in the face of fears that Hungary could stall progress when it takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in July.
Hungary — the friendliest country to Russia in the EU — has said it does not intend to hold any further rounds of talks with Ukraine during its six months at the helm.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to take on new members, after years in which countries particularly in the Western Balkans made little progress on their hope to join.
The EU in December 2023 also granted candidate status to another of Russia’s former Soviet neighbors, Georgia.
It has also approved accession negotiations with Bosnia and has opened such talks with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.
EU confirms launch of Ukraine, Moldova membership talks Tuesday
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EU confirms launch of Ukraine, Moldova membership talks Tuesday
- Starting the negotiations will still only put the two ex-Soviet states at the beginning of what is likely to be a years-long process of reforms before they can finally become members
Poland intercepts Russian plane over Baltic Sea
- Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions
- Fighter jets escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace
WARSAW: Polish jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, which was flying close to its airspace, the NATO member country’s army said on Thursday.
Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September when three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes just days after more than 20 Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.
“This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,” the army said.
It also said that at night, objects were observed entering Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus.
“After detailed analysis, it was determined that these were most likely smuggling balloons, moving in accordance with the wind direction and speed,” the army said. It added that part of the airspace over northeast Poland’s Podlaskie region, which borders Belarus, was temporarily closed to civilian traffic to ensure security.
