The European Commission on Friday told EU ambassadors that Ukraine and Moldova have met the conditions to begin talks on joining the European Union.
We consider that all the steps have been met by the two countries, a commission spokeswoman told reporters on Friday.
Now the decision is in the hands of the member states.
EU leaders had agreed to open talks with the two countries in December, on grounds that they met certain conditions, such as fighting corruption.
In a closed-door meeting, the commission told ambassadors for the 27 EU member states that these conditions had been met.
However, all member states still have to unanimously agree on a plan for the conduct of the talks before they can begin in practice
Kiev had applied for EU membership in February 2022, after Russia escalated the long-running conflict in eastern Ukraine by launching a full-scale invasion of the country.
Moldova, where the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria had been a persistent security concern since a war in the early 1990s was asked to join a month later.
Georgia, which fought a war with Russia in 2008, also applied in March 2022.
While, EU leaders formally recognized Ukraine and Moldova as candidate for membership one year ago, in June 2023.
The Commission had granted candidate status to Georgia in December 2023, at the same time as agreeing to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova.
The other official candidates are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.(dpa/NAN).
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