Ukraine has moved a step closer to joining the European Union with a crucial phase of the membership negotiation process now underway.
European officials on Monday launched accession talks with both Ukraine and Moldova after all E.U. member states agreed last week to open the first negotiating cluster for the two countries.
Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, and António Costa, European Council president, framed the progress as a way to “strengthen peace, security, and prosperity” across Europe amid global uncertainty.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the milestone as a show of “political and moral support” from the bloc to Ukraine.
The night before the start of negotiations, Russia launched another deadly attack on Ukraine, prompting condemnation from E.U. leadership.
“On the day Ukraine opens its first negotiation cluster with the E.U., Moscow shows again what it fears most. A democratic Ukraine, firmly anchored in Europe,” remarked Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement.
Zelensky has long framed Ukraine’s bid to join the E.U. as a way to bolster its security guarantees amid attacks from Russia.
Kaja Kallas, E.U.'s chief diplomat, in March said it was her wish that “Ukraine is going to join [the] European Union soon,” although she declined to give an exact timeline.
Despite strong political support from some European leaders, Ukraine faces a long, complex path before membership of the bloc becomes a reality.
Ukraine formally applied for European Union membership in February 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
In June 2022, Ukraine was granted candidate status, with E.U. leaders agreeing in December 2023 to open accession negotiations.
Frank Schimmelfennig, a professor of European politics at ETH Zurich whose research focuses on European integration, tells TIME that granting candidate status was as much a political signal as a techn
