Summit – Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, will participate on Tuesday, in Riga, in the Bucharest Format Summit 9 (B9), which he will co-chair alongside the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, and the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will also participate in the event. The meeting takes place one month before the NATO Anniversary Summit in Washington, D.C., which marks 75 years since the Alliance was founded. In Riga, the leaders will have the opportunity for an in-depth exchange of views on the major objectives and the main expected results for the Washington Summit, with focus on strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense posture on the Eastern Flank, as well as on intensifying support for Ukraine, writes a press release from the Romanian presidency.
Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova have met the conditions to commence the EU accession negotiations.
The European Commission has announced that Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova have met the right conditions to be able to start negotiations to join the bloc. According to Brussels, Ukraine has made the last amendments to the laws regulating lobbying activities, as well as in the field of minorities, while the Republic of Moldova has operated changes to its legal system. In both cases, the Commission will be monitoring the implementation of the aforementioned amendments, but the steps taken by the two countries will allow them to kick off the negotiations for EU accession.
The first stage after this moment is for the community countries to endorse the Commission’s recommendation in the European Council. Kyiv submitted its EU-entry application in February 2022 after the conflict it had with Russia in the east for several years, was followed by a large-scale invasion of the latter’s troops. A month later, the Republic of Moldova – whose pro-Russia breakaway region of Transdniester had also caused a lot of concern after the war in early 90s – asked to join the European Union.
European leaders officially recognized Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova as accession candidates in June last year. The next stage, after the EU members have approved the Commission’s recommendation, will be the setting up of an inter-governmental conference with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, a moment, which is actually the beginning of the negotiations aimed at bringing their entire legislations in line with the European one.
These negotiations will end with the accession per se. The Council’s presidency is being currently held by Belgium, a country, which wants to summon the first inter-governmental conference during its mandate, namely by the end of this month.
After Belgium, the EU rotating presidency will be taken over by Hungary, a country, which has repeatedly questioned the opportunity of EU enlargement.
On Thursday at the meeting with the EU ambassadors accredited to Bucharest, occasioned by the conclusion of the Belgian presidency, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis highlighted the ‘significant reform efforts’ accomplished by both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova under extremely difficult circumstances.
He pleaded for the continuation of the accession process of these two countries and for summoning intergovernmental conferences by the end of the Belgian presidency. The Romanian president has repeatedly mentioned Romania’s support for the two countries during their European integration process.
Furthermore, press agencies announced as early as Wednesday that a group of eleven out of the 27 EU members have called on the Belgian presidency to endorse the negotiation frameworks for the EU accession of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova so that the inter-governmental conference with the two may be summoned late this month.
Opening accession negotiations would offer additional motivation to both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the eleven signatories, Romania included, of the ‘Joint Letter on EU Accession have said. (Daniela Budu, Radio Romania International)
