2023-12-14 18:18:54
The EU summit in Brussels decided to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. EU Council President Charles Michel announced this on Thursday on X (formerly Twitter). Accession talks will also be opened with Bosnia as soon as the necessary conditions are met. The commission is due to report in March. Georgia receives EU candidate status.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked “everyone who worked to make this happen and who helped. I congratulate every Ukrainian on this day,” said Zelensky on X. He also congratulated Moldova and its President Maia Sandu. “History is made by those who never stop fighting for freedom.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the start of talks as a “strategic decision”: “This day will go down in the history of the Union. We are proud that we are keeping our promises and are happy for our partners.”
The decision in the European Council was made without any dissenting votes, said Michel. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Ukraine’s accession to the EU a “bad decision” in which Hungary did not want to take part, he wrote on Facebook. Before the summit, he announced his opposition to starting accession talks with Ukraine. According to EU diplomats, at the time of the vote, Orban had left the room in a “constructive manner” by prior agreement.
Decisions in the European Council must be made without dissenting voices. Accordingly, Orban may have abstained from voting.
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