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Ukraine Starts EU Membership Talks 06/16 06:15
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Ukraine on Monday officially started European Union
membership negotiations, launching a process that will require its government
to commit to years of political reforms even as it fights a Russian invasion.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka took part in an
intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg to open talks that will help Kyiv
align with the 27-member bloc's laws, standards and values.
"Aggression against Ukraine and threats against Europe is a permanent policy
of Russia, so that's why we need to be united," Kachka told journalists.
"That's why we need faster and very comprehensive accession to the European
Union."
Ukraine sees EU membership as a security guarantee for a stable future once
the war ends. Its best guarantee would be membership in the NATO military
alliance, but the Trump administration insists that cannot happen, and others
are wary of it joining while the war continues.
Moldova also officially launched its membership talks. Russia has long tried
to keep the country within its orbit, and last year Moscow was accused of
waging a disinformation campaign driven by artificial intelligence during
elections.
EU values and principles are first up
Countries hoping to join the EU must complete negotiations in 35 policy
areas, or chapters, from agriculture to taxation and energy to trade, a process
which can take years.
Monday's meeting saw the opening of five key chapters -- grouped as
"clusters" -- that underpin the values and principles on which the bloc was
founded, notably the rule of law, fundamental rights and the functioning of
democratic institutions.
The chapters are judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and
security, public procurement, and statistics and financial control. The cluster
is important for some EU countries that worry about Ukraine's ability and
willingness to fight corruption.
Last month, two national agencies fighting corruption named Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former chief of staff as an official suspect in
a major graft investigation, but they said the Ukrainian leader was not under
suspicion.
Some countries want Ukraine to join quickly
Some European countries have pushed to get Ukraine in the bloc as quickly as
possible. They see Ukraine as vital to Europe's security and have helped
bolster its armed forces.
Last month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged his EU partners to
consider offering Ukraine "associate membership" to help breathe new life into
talks aimed at ending more than four years of war with Russia.
Other countries -- France and the Netherlands among them -- have suggested
work-arounds to bring Ukraine into the fold more quickly but without the rights
of full membership.
But EU officials, and other countries waiting in line to join the bloc,
insist that it should be a merits-based process that leads to nothing less than
full membership.
Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said that completing the full
reform process is vital, and that membership is not simply about securing a
"club card for the EU."
What Ukrainians "truly are after is freedom, democracy and a transparent
market economy without any corruption," she told journalists in Luxembourg.
Hungary had long blocked Ukraine's prospects
Ukraine's accession process was long stymied by Hungary under stridently
nationalist former Prime Minister Viktor Orbn, who was considered Russia's
strongest ally in Europe and a possible threat to the EU project. He lost an
election this year.
Orbn routinely exploited voting rules that require all 27 member countries
to agree on certain rules, sanctions and even political statements. Indeed,
unanimous agreement is required for each negotiating chapter to be opened, and
then again for it to be closed.
The European Commission froze billions of euros in funds for Hungary in
response to democratic backsliding led by Orbn, and concern lingers about the
damage that can be done when one unhappy government insists on wielding its
veto.
"We need to be very cautious in the future and make sure that these are
countries that really want to be a part of Europe, and a part of the European
Union, and are willing to work with us," Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer
Stenergard said.
"In order for the EU to be really strong, we need to make sure that this
doesn't happen again," she said.
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