The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are ready to open all negotiating clusters for EU accession, and the European Commission hopes member states will soon reach a consensus on opening the remaining ones. The statement was made by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos during an extraordinary meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, where she presented the EU Enlargement Package.
“Ukraine and Moldova have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and commitment to their European path. Our position remains clear: both countries are ready to open all negotiating clusters, and we hope that the Council will soon reach a consensus on the remaining clusters, Four and Five, respectively,” Marta Kos said.
Referring to the Republic of Moldova, the European official noted that citizens had repeatedly made a clear choice in favour of a European future, while the Government had demonstrated determination and made significant progress in the accession process, despite hybrid threats, attempts at destabilisation and regional shocks affecting the economy and energy sector.
Marta Kos described the opening of four negotiating clusters as an important achievement but warned that much work remains. In particular, Moldova needs to accelerate the pace of reforms if it aims to conclude accession negotiations in early 2028.
The European Commissioner stressed the need for more substantial progress in the area of fundamental rights and clear results across all negotiating chapters.
Marta Kos also noted that the European Union is working with the Republic of Moldova on key aspects of the accession process so that the European Commission can issue its opinion on the country by the end of this year.