President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Viktor Kovalchuk | Getty Pictures
Ukraine has moved one step closer to European Union membership after leaders in Brussels agreed to originate negotiations with the warfare-torn nation.
In a shock announcement gradual Thursday, EU summit chair Charles Michel, who’s the European Council president, said leaders had made up our minds to originate accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.
“The European Council has made up our minds to originate accession negotiations with Ukraine & Moldova,” he said by job of X, beforehand Twitter.
“#EUCO granted candidate space to Georgia. And the EU will originate negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the specified level of compliance with the membership requirements is reached and has invited the price to document by March with a look for to taking such a choice,” he added.
“A clear signal of hope for their folk and for our continent.”
The settlement comes no topic Hungary pledging to dam this choice at some level of the latest two-day EU summit. A handful of different member states, equivalent to Italy, have additionally raised factors over enlarging the EU.
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Talking by job of X, Zelenskyy responded to Michel announcing it used to be “a victory” for his country and Europe. “A victory that motivates, conjures up, and strengthens,” he said, in step with a Reuters translation.
Hungary’s high minister, Viktor Orban, meanwhile, called it a execrable choice and said by job of Fb that his country did no longer take part in the choice-making direction of. Orban left the room when the vote among EU leaders started on Thursday night, in step with one EU decent.
— CNBC’s Silvia Amaro contributed to this text.
