**This can be a creating story.
In a historic step, EU leaders agreed on Thursday (14 December) to open EU accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and grant candidate standing to Georgia, regardless of an earlier risk from Hungary to veto the deal.
“The European Council has determined to open accession negotiations with Ukraine & Moldova,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote on X.
EU leaders additionally determined to grant candidate standing to Georgia, and stated the bloc would open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina “as soon as the mandatory diploma of compliance with the membership standards is reached”. The Council has “invited the Fee to report by March with a view to taking such a call”.
“A transparent sign of hope for his or her individuals and for our continent,” Michel stated.
The step comes amid expectations that Hungary could be the essential stumbling block to a deal on the EU’s €50 billion monetary support package deal to maintain Ukraine’s war-torn economic system afloat and the political choice to open formal accession talks with the nation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the room when the choice on enlargement was taken, in keeping with a number of EU diplomats who have been briefed on the dialogue.
The transfer is more likely to increase the bloc’s fledgling enlargement course of and irritate Moscow.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
Learn extra with Euractiv
