No separation for Ukraine and Moldova on EU accession path – Kyiv

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said there is no basis to speak about a “separation” between Ukraine and Moldova in the process of joining the European Union following recent statements by the President of the European Commission.

According to a comment provided to journalists and cited by European Pravda, the ministry noted that remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the EU–Moldova summit referred specifically to Moldova, without comparing or contrasting it with Ukraine.

“After the opening of the first cluster of negotiations (Cluster 1), further progress in the negotiation process takes place on the basis of a clearly established European Commission methodology, which provides for an individual assessment of each candidate country based on achievements in fulfilling internal benchmarks (IBAR),” the statement said.

At the same time, the ministry stressed that Ukraine and Moldova are moving in a synchronised manner within the negotiation process and are consistently going through the relevant stages of European integration. It added that the EU has repeatedly noted that both countries have met the necessary conditions for opening negotiation clusters.

“There are therefore no grounds for conclusions about any so-called ‘separation’,” the ministry said, adding that Ukraine expects a “fair, objective and balanced approach” from the EU in the enlargement process.

Following the EU–Moldova summit on June 22, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that after the opening of the first cluster, each candidate country will continue its EU accession path at its own pace, implementing different reforms.

By Jeyhun Aghazada