2023-11-08 17:52:33
Ukraine took an essential step towards joining the European Union this Wednesday, November 8. The Brussels Commission recommends the opening of accession negotiations with kyiv. Moldova benefits from the same positive opinion. Georgia is also moving closer to the Union, while the Commission recommends granting it the status of candidate country which it did not yet have.
Presenting these conclusions, the President of the European Commission judged that Ukraine has already accomplished “more than 90% of what was asked”with “major progress in the reform of constitutional justice; an anti-corruption program; progress in the fight against money laundering; significant measures to curb the influence of oligarchs on public life; a new law on the media ». Ursula von der Leyen also felt that “Moldova has made significant efforts”, in particular to improve its judicial system.
She stressed, on the other hand, that Georgia still had to undertake“important reforms” to move on to the next step and enter into negotiations.
Integration objective in 2030
This recommendation must now be examined by the Council of Heads of State and Government on December 14. In the event of a definitive green light, negotiations could open with Ukraine and Moldova as early as 2024, even if they must then last several years to lead to the integration of these countries into the Union.
For example, Croatia, the last country to join the Union, underwent ten years of discussions before finally being admitted in 2013. For Ukraine and Moldova, the negotiations could last at least until 2030.
The Ukrainian president immediately greeted ” the maid “ decision of the European Commission while Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili said she “rejoice with the Georgian people” of this positive opinion.
The Balkans left behind
The potion is more bitter for the other States which have been waiting for years in the waiting room of the European Union. Bosnia also hoped to be able to begin accession negotiations. But she is opposed to the fact that reforms “unconstitutional” were adopted by the Serbian entity of the country, so that Sarajevo will have to wait for a next evaluation scheduled for March 2024.
And the same goes for all the other candidates: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, not to mention Turkey, a country with which the accession process has stalled.
The Balkan countries therefore appear to be the losers of this opinion. The Commission is trying to alleviate their frustration by putting on the table a “growth plan” who must “bridging the socio-economic gap” between these countries and the European Union.
A “historic” day
Despite this relative failure, the Commission’s opinion marks a turning point. While any enlargement process seemed frozen for many years, a new train of countries is setting out to join the Union. And it is made up of three former republics of the USSR.
This is of course an effect of Russian aggression against Ukraine which has already led Sweden and Finland to join NATO. Ursula von der Leyen explains it this way: “The war launched by Russia forced Europeans to position themselves. It also created momentum in favor of the Union within the candidate countries which accelerated their reforms. » And she does not hesitate to describe this green light from the Commission as an event “historical”.
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