The European Commission (EC) will recommend starting negotiations with Ukraine in June on joining the European Union. This was reported by the Financial Times (FT).
According to sources cited by the publication, the EC aims to demonstrate support for Kyiv before Hungary takes over the EU presidency. On June 7, it will announce that Ukraine now meets the necessary criteria for joining the community, including anti-corruption measures, restrictions on political lobbying, asset declaration rules for public officials, and protection of languages used by national minorities, sources noted.
On July 1, Hungary will replace Belgium as the temporary president of the EU Council. Budapest’s mandate in this capacity will last six months, until the end of 2024.
On June 5, it was reported that twelve EU countries are insisting on the next key step in the accession process for Ukraine and Moldova to join the bloc.
In late May, Bloomberg reported that Hungary was blocking an agreement among EU countries that would allow negotiations to begin on Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.