‘A historic step’: EU starts membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova

“Today, we are taking a historic step toward Ukraine’s future within the EU,” European Council President Antonio Costa told reporters at the Group of Seven meeting in Evian, France. Photo by Ludovic MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

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The European Union opened membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova after the new Hungarian government dropped its opposition, kickstarting a process that will likely take years to complete.

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The decisions has symbolic significance for the two former Soviet states as Russia intensifies attack on Kyiv, more than four years into the full-scale invasion. Moldova has spent years fighting off Moscow’s attempts to thwart its pro-European ambitions.

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“Today, we are taking a historic step toward Ukraine’s future within the EU,” European Council President Antonio Costa told reporters at the Group of Seven meeting in Evian, France. “A united and determined G7 is essential to help bring this war to an end and achieve a just and lasting peace.”

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The step comes after Viktor Orban’s ouster as Hungarian leader, paving the way for his more pro-EU successor, Peter Magyar, to quickly reach a deal with Ukraine to drop Budapest’s veto. Officials formalized the move on Monday, several days after EU countries gave their assent.

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Hungary is “returning with a new commitment to a European future,” the country’s new foreign minister, Anita Orban, told reporters in Luxembourg earlier on Monday.

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Making progress on EU expansion has become a priority for the bloc, which is increasingly worried about Russian and Chinese influence in countries along its borders. The EU has now gone 13 years without growing — its longest dry spell — leaving aspiring members wondering whether the bloc can deliver on its promises.

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Membership of the EU has also become the main potential source of security guarantees for Ukraine as U.S.-led peace talks have faltered and NATO membership is off the table. The latest Russian drone and missile strike hit a historic UNESCO-protected Orthodox cathedral in Kyiv just  hours after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a phone call.

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“This is a really momentous day,” said Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee, whose country will assume the bloc’s rotating presidency in July.

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Ukraine and Moldova, which sits between Ukraine and EU-member Romania, formally became candidates in 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion. In 2024, the EU symbolically opened membership talks with the countries, but Orban vetoed the start of actual dialog.

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Since then, the two countries have been gradually adopting regulatory and legislative reforms in anticipation of talks eventually starting.

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On Monday, the EU opened the first of six “clusters” that all candidates must work through before joining. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said the goal is to open the rest in July.

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Still, Ukraine and Moldova have uncertain paths to membership. Numerous EU members are anxious about admitting Ukraine quickly due to Russia’s war — and before it completes all required reforms. The country’s large agriculture sector could also be entitled to billions in EU subsidies, a sensitive topic given the bloc’s strained budget.