A “full consensus” on granting Ukraine EU candidate status emerged during a meeting of EU-27 ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Clement Bonn said two days before the summit.
The European Commission on Friday gave a positive conclusion on granting Ukraine-Moldova EU candidate status, which will pave the way for membership after a long process. The discussion between the ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday “gave an opportunity to show a broad consensus, I would even say a complete consensus (…), particularly in the case of Ukraine, the possibility of recognizing the candidate status as soon as possible.” “- said Clement Bon, whose country holds the presidency of the Council of the EU. “This is a debate that now belongs to the meeting of the heads of state and government,” he added at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
“We have worked to ensure that European unity is demonstrated once again that this weekend we are experiencing a powerful, positive, perhaps even historic moment,” Clement Bonn continued. “The accession process does not mean immediate accession,” the delegate of the Minister for European Affairs reminded. “Precisely because this process is demanding and long, we will have to consider it not as an alternative, but as a supplement, additional actions. It is in this spirit that the President of the Republic has awakened the European political community in recent weeks,” he reminded.
“European float”
“We must maintain the perspective, the European flame, even if the membership process begins,” he added. French President Emanuel Macron presented the idea of a “European political community” to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on May 9 to welcome countries wishing to join the EU, which are waiting for integration, but the initiative was met with skepticism by Ukraine. The status of the candidate nominated by the Commission for Moldova for Ukraine depends on the conditions for the implementation of reforms related to the independence of the anti-corruption judiciary.
Four candidate countries
According to the commission, Georgia, which is also seeking EU membership, has yet to make reforms before gaining candidate status. Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Tbilisi on Monday demanding EU membership. The French minister also stressed the “very clear consensus” of the 27 “on the need to remember the European perspective of the Western Balkans”, whose “stability is sometimes affected by the Ukrainian conflict.” The leaders of the 27th will meet with the countries of the Western Balkans in front of the European Council on Thursday morning. ” Four countries in the region are official candidates: Northern Macedonia (since 2005), Montenegro (since 2010), Serbia (since 2012), Albania (since 2014), and two of them are possible candidates: Bosnia and Kosovo.
Membership talks with Serbia-Montenegro have already started, but not with the others. France, as the country holding the Presidency of the EU Council, is working with the Commission to lift the blockade of Bulgaria on the accession process of Northern Macedonia. While these decisions are being made unanimously, Sofia vetoes them because of bilateral disputes over language and history. “The French presidency is very active, I hope, in the coming days (lift) the blockade,” said Clement Bon. “But I want to be careful at this stage,” he said, referring to “the difficult political situation in Sofia today.”
Source: Le Figaro
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