EU Advances Membership Talks with Four Candidates

On Tuesday in Brussels, the European Union advanced accession negotiations with four candidate countries: Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine. According to European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, the day marks the most significant milestone in the EU's enlargement process in more than two decades.

Ukraine and Moldova opened the second cluster of negotiation chapters, covering foreign, security and defense policy, trade, development cooperation and humanitarian aid. Albania provisionally closed the chapters on science and research, education and culture, and external relations. Montenegro completed negotiations on competition policy and the customs union.

The accession process requires candidates to meet conditions across 35 policy areas and typically takes several years. Montenegro, which aims to join the European Union in 2028, remains the most advanced candidate.

Kos said Ukraine's future membership is also crucial from a security perspective. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has accelerated its enlargement agenda amid concerns over growing Russian and Chinese influence in candidate countries. There are currently nine official candidates for EU membership.

(AP, Lud)