EU Agrees to Formally Open Accession Talks With Moldova and Ukraine

The European Union has agreed to formally open talks with Ukraine and ​Moldova on the first cluster of issues in the accession process, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on June 4.

“Fantastic news,” she wrote on X. “We are one step closer to ​the EU membership: steadily moving towards our ​goal.”

Moldovan President Maia Sandu also welcomed the news, saying that her government was committed to making the necessary reforms the EU requires of it.

All of the 27 member countries of the bloc voted for the talks to begin, taking the two eastern European nations, both former republics of the Soviet Union, a step closer to membership.

Cyprus, which currently holds the rotating presidency of ⁠the EU, said it has begun preparations to formally open negotiation on the first ​group of negotiating chapters, covering legal and democratic standards, with both countries.

“This marks a significant milestone in ​their European integration path, and sends a strong ​message of EU unity and determination,” the Cyprus presidency account said on X.

Cyprus said ‌it ⁠would work toward finalizing the discussions for the formal opening.

10 Countries in Talks to Join

Joining the EU involves a years-long process run by its executive branch, the European Commission (EC), which assesses 35 sets of criteria, including financial systems, transparency, agricultural regulations, and rights including freedom of speech and religion.

Ten countries are currently in accession talks with the EC to join the union. According to the EU’s executive branch, the bloc could welcome new members within four years.

Other countries on the long path to joining are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.

Hungary’s recently elected prime minister, Peter Magyar, has indicated that his country’s previous objections to Ukraine’s accession to the bloc could soon be resolved.

Magyar, who won a national election against his nationalist predecessor, Victor Orban, said on June 2 that the two countries had reached an agreement on ​the rights of ​the 100,000-strong ⁠Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

Orban was vehemently opposed to Ukraine’s joining the bloc, condemning an alleged EU plan to accelerate the war-torn country’s accession as “an open declaration of war against Hungary.”

The former prime minister, who often locked horns with Brussels on matters related to Ukraine and immigration, said the EU has “decided that Ukraine will be admitted to the Union as early as 2027.”

Politico reported in February that the EU was “hatching a plan” to give Ukraine partial membership in the bloc and was working on ways around Orban’s veto.

Orban accused EU institutions of wanting to force through enlargement plans without the consent of all member states. He pointed to high levels of corruption in Ukraine, including the recent bribery scandal centered on the state-owned nuclear energy operator, which has implicated numerous politicians and other close associates of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Europe keeps sending money to Ukraine with no real oversight, and now a corruption scandal reveals vast sums evaporating into thin air,” Orban said in 2025. “Yet some claim this is an argument for EU membership. Absurd.”

“Hungary’s position is crystal clear: if a country cannot even meet the basic standards, it is not ready for the EU,” he said in a Nov. 22, 2025, post on X.

Orban’s Fidesz party, which governed Hungary for 16 years, lost to Magyar’s center-right pro-EU Tisza party in the April election.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused the EU of “disgraceful interference” in Hungary’s election to ensure Orban lost, which Brussels denied.

Ukraine formally applied for EU membership in 2022, four days after the Russia–Ukraine conflict escalated in February when Moscow launched an invasion, although it first expressed a desire to join the bloc in 1993, just two years after becoming independent following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Key officials in the EU, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have repeatedly said that Ukraine “belongs to the European family.”

‘Associate’ Membership Proposal

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently ​proposed granting Ukraine associate EU membership, which he said could help facilitate a deal to end the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy rejected Mertz’s proposal as unfair, insisting that Ukraine needs full membership.

“There can be no complete European project without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s place in the European Union must also be complete — full and equal,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

The Ukrainian president is also pushing for NATO membership, which does not have the unanimous backing of the alliance, as the clause of mutuality could drag all members into the war with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is vehemently opposed to NATO expansion but has said he has no objections to Ukraine’s accession to the EU, as it is not a military alliance.

Moldova Continuing ‘Necessary Reforms’

Sandu won a contentious Moldovan presidential race in 2024 beset by allegations of interference by Russia—a claim denied by Moscow.

A former adviser for the World Bank, the pro-EU Sandu—who first took office in 2020—is a vociferous critic of Putin and a supporter of neighboring Ukraine.

Moldova has a significant minority Russian population, and the Kremlin’s influence on the country’s affairs continued after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Moldovans voted narrowly in favor of securing the country’s EU path in 2024; the country began the formal application process just after Ukraine in March 2022.

Sandu said in a statement reported by local media outlet Moldpres: “We have seen significant commitments for our country’s economy on behalf of private companies and development banks. For us, this is the best proof that the European path delivers results: investment, development, jobs.”

“We are continuing the necessary reforms, including the difficult ones—the justice reform, which we will see through to the end, and now also the local public administration reform,” she said. “We are consistent in our reform efforts and quite determined in the process of European integration.”

Following the EC’s release of its latest annual enlargement report, Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas said in a November 2025 statement: “Joining the EU remains a fair, tough, and merit-based process. But new countries joining the EU by 2030 is a realistic goal.”

“Expanding the EU is in our best interest,” Kallas said. “It’s a long-term investment in our security, economy, and global edge. Through enlargement Europe can grow its geopolitical power.”

Victoria Friedman and Owen Evans contributed to this article.