The Dutch parliament voted in favor of greenlighting the negotiation frameworks for Ukraine and Moldova, clearing the last hurdle for the EU to formally open accession talks with both countries next week. Though the new far-right Dutch government, led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, had said they would support both countries to proceed, the decision required formal parliamentary approval, IPN reports, with reference to Euractiv.
The step clears the final hurdle after EU member states last Friday (14 June), following weeks of wrangling, agreed in principle on the negotiating frameworks for the accession negotiations of Ukraine and Moldova.
An intergovernmental conference will be held on 25 June, as planned, marking the official start to negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova’s accession to the EU.
The source noted that the first intergovernmental conference with an EU candidate country marks the official start of accession talks, a process that usually takes years.
The European Union opened accession negotiations with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in mid-December last year. Until recently, Hungary blocked the start of the accession talks, claiming that Ukraine didn’t meet the imposed conditions. For its part, the European Commission two weeks ago decided that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova fulfilled all the conditions for the opening of official negotiations. The European Commission urged Kiev to take measures to fight corruption and the influence of oligarchs. It also called for better consideration of minorities, a measure insistently requested by Budapest due to the presence of a Hungarian community in Ukraine.
