Ukraine is on track for official candidacy to EU

• Ukraine will become an official candidate for EU membership on Thursday, diplomats say.
• Moldova is also quite likely to be granted candidate status, according to diplomats.
• Ukraine already has a free trade agreement with the European Union, but it sought membership days after Russia’s invasion.

Ministers and diplomats announced on Tuesday that Ukraine will become an official candidate for European Union membership on Thursday, a symbolic yet morale-boosting move following Russia’s invasion.

EU leaders in Brussels are likely to agree with the suggestion made by the European Commission last week.

Three diplomats told the international news agency that after many days of internal EU deliberations, no opposition from the 27 member states has emerged.

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According to the diplomats, Moldova is also quite likely to be granted candidate status, although Georgia must meet certain conditions, particularly resolving the country’s political impasse.

Despite scepticism from northern EU nations that accepting Ukraine, which is plagued by pervasive corruption, is impossible, Denmark’s foreign minister said he supported granting it candidate status.

As Jeppe Kofod told reporters in Luxembourg, “It’s very good and it’s something that Denmark wholeheartedly supports; we want to help Ukraine to achieve its European dream.”

Despite the EU’s geopolitical push eastward in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, it will likely be years before Kyiv becomes a member of the bloc, if at all.

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Vladimir Putin has so far played down the issue of Ukraine’s EU membership.