EU agrees to start accession process for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia

The countries of the European Union agreed on Monday to start the process for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to become members of the EU club in the future, following the request that these three countries made to Brussels last week.

According to the French EU presidency on its official Twitter account, the EU-27 today asked the Commission to take the first step on that path by preparing the report needed to decide whether EU countries will grant Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia candidate status.

"Agreement to invite the European Commission to present an opinion on each of the applications for EU membership submitted by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova," the tweet said, following a meeting of EU ambassadors to the EU institutions, where they discussed the issue.

Ukraine's president, Volodymir Zelensky, signed the EU membership application last week as part of the response to the invasion that Russia launched on 24 February.

Moldova and Georgia followed suit, fearing Moscow.

The EU executive will now prepare a report assessing whether Kiev, Chisinau and Tbilisi meet the criteria for EU membership, including respect for the EU's fundamental values, stable institutions guaranteeing democracy and a market economy.

When Brussels completes its assessment - which is the first step in a process that usually takes years - EU countries will have to approve it unanimously and only then can accession negotiations begin.

Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said last week that "there is still a long way to go" to successfully complete the enlargement process.

As of today, Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro are in negotiations with Brussels to join the EU, and Albania and North Macedonia have been granted candidate country status.