Following an informal meeting of European affairs ministers in Lviv, the EU announced the approval of a new, technical approach to Ukraine's EU accession negotiations. This approach aims to advance the process despite Hungary's veto, as announced by Denmark's Minister for European Affairs, Marie Bjerre, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, on Thursday, UNN reports.
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"For many of us, it is a disappointment that we have not been able to formally open Cluster 1, but I am very proud that we have now managed to apply a more technical approach – frontloading all the technical work," said the Danish minister.
"We confirmed this new approach today, and the next presidency, the Cypriot presidency, will be able to continue it," emphasized Marie Bjerre, Denmark's Minister for European Affairs.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos confirmed this and indicated that "today, member states clearly defined the direction and stated – all, almost all – that this alignment must continue as part of the structures and predictable processes. Member states provided guidance on what reform goals they expect from Ukraine to move the process forward. This is exactly what we needed on this basis – both Ukraine and the European Commission have a to-do list for advancing technical negotiations, and we know exactly what needs to be done," Kos emphasized.
"This means that the enlargement process with Ukraine is not standing still; it continues to move forward," said Marie Bjerre, the representative of the Danish presidency of the Council of the EU.
According to the office of Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, the informal meeting in Lviv discussed Ukraine's progress towards EU membership and outlined further steps.
"Thanks to constructive cooperation with European partners, we successfully completed the screening stage in record time. Ukraine is finalizing the National Program for the Implementation of the EU acquis, which will be adopted soon. The latest European Commission Report confirmed Ukraine's progress across all negotiation Clusters. We have proven that a state whose institutions withstand the challenges of a full-scale war is capable of effectively functioning as a future EU member. We are ready to move forward and open negotiation clusters as soon as political conditions allow," stated Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka during the meeting.
Following the informal meeting, Taras Kachka and Marta Kos issued a joint statement, reaffirming their shared commitment to advancing Ukraine's EU accession and accelerating key reforms.
The parties welcomed the completion of the bilateral screening of all negotiation chapters in an unprecedentedly short timeframe and the European Commission's assessment of the readiness of all six Clusters for opening. The parties expect the opening of negotiation Clusters, starting with Cluster 1 "Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process," without delay.
The focus is also on further steps in the areas of rule of law and anti-corruption policy.