Two EU countries want to postpone the opening of negotiation clusters with Ukraine - media
Kyiv • UNN
Poland and France are proposing to move the opening of five negotiation clusters to the fall. Ukraine, however, seeks to begin this process as early as May.
Poland and France want to postpone the opening of negotiation clusters with Kyiv within the framework of discussions on Ukraine's membership in the European Union until the end of the Cyprus presidency of the EU Council—that is, until the end of June. This was reported by Radio Liberty, citing two unnamed sources in EU diplomatic circles, according to UNN.
Details
It is noted that there is consensus among EU states to open the first, fundamental cluster, "Fundamentals," by the end of June.
As for the other five clusters, two states propose postponing their opening tentatively until autumn
According to sources, Poland and France insist on opening only one cluster in June—"Fundamentals," which includes issues of justice, fundamental rights, and public administration. Meanwhile, some EU countries, particularly the Baltic states, support a faster option—launching all six clusters and, accordingly, all 33 negotiation chapters.
The final decision will be made at the EU summit in Brussels on June 18-19.
Recall
The day before, during a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels with the participation of EU member state ministers, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Ukraine seeks to open the first negotiation cluster for EU accession as early as May 26, and the other five by the end of the Cyprus presidency of the EU.