Speaking after a working breakfast with Ukraine in Brussels, Marilena Raouna, the Europe minister of Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, said: “Enlargement is not a symbolic gesture, it is a strategic investment in Europe’s peace and stability,” and praised Ukraine’s “extraordinary commitment” to reforms despite Russia’s ongoing war.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, speaking at the same press conference, said the bloc must accelerate the accession process. “We must speed up,” Kos said, adding that “there cannot be a safe Europe without a safe, democratic and prosperous Ukraine as one of us.”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka called the step “revolutionary,” saying Kyiv would press ahead with reforms despite the war.
Speaking after a separate meeting with Moldova, Raouna said Chișinău was “advancing decisively” in its accession process, with reforms progressing at an “impressive pace.”
“This is an important and pragmatic step,” said Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov, adding that accession remained “the only viable path” for the country’s future, and it hopes to join the EU by 2030.
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has made blocking Ukraine’s accession a key part of his campaign ahead of an April 12 national election. The deadlock is also holding back Moldova, as its EU membership bid has moved in lockstep with Ukraine’s.
The announcement had been planned for a meeting in Cyprus earlier this month, but was delayed after an Iranian drone hit a British air base on the island.
Attention now shifts to whether member countries will unblock the next phase — formally opening accession negotiations — later this year.