The EU must quickly open the remaining two negotiating clusters on accession to the bloc for Ukraine and Moldova. The Prime Minister of Ireland, which holds the EU presidency, Micheál Martin said this on October 15 ahead of the EU summit, UNN reports, citing Rapporteur.
I would say to my colleagues across Europe that now is the time to be ambitious over the next few months in order to open all the clusters for Ukraine and Moldova
"The people of Ukraine need this as a very strong signal, given the extraordinary pressure they are experiencing because of Russia's attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure," he stressed.
"All of us in the EU have an obligation to allow enlargement to begin again," Martin said.
No country has joined the EU since Croatia in 2013.
Meanwhile, as Politico notes, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also touched on the issue of enlargement.
Asked about the UK's relations with the EU, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas replied: "All our friends are welcome," naming the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway and Iceland as partners seeking closer ties.
"Everyone who wants to join is welcome," she said.