EU Opens Accession Talks With Ukraine and Moldova

The European Union formally launched membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on 15 June 2026. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka joined an intergovernmental conference in Luxembourg that opened talks to align Kyiv with the 27-member bloc’s laws, standards and values.

Monday’s meeting opened five key chapters grouped as clusters: judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security, public procurement, and statistics and financial control.

The cluster is important for some EU countries that worry about Ukraine’s ability and willingness to fight corruption. Taras Kachka told journalists that aggression against Ukraine and threats against Europe is a permanent policy of Russia. “That’s why we need faster and very comprehensive accession to the European Union,” he said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the start of the process a major milestone. “Both countries have delivered on difficult reforms under extraordinary circumstances. Their membership will make Europe stronger,” she said on X. The accession process requires countries to complete negotiations in 35 policy areas, or chapters, from agriculture to taxation and energy to trade.

Brussels agreed to unlock over €16bn ($18bn) in frozen EU funds for Budapest after Péter Magyar agreed last week to lift Hungary’s veto on Ukraine’s membership bid. Viktor Orban lost the election in April.

His successor, Péter Magyar, has sought a swift return to the EU mainstream. Russia has also been trying to keep Moldova within its orbit. Last year, Moscow was accused of waging a disinformation campaign driven by artificial intelligence to try to influence elections, although the pro-Western incumbent won.

Ukraine must start the accession process while continuing to fight Russia’s invasion. Moscow has announced annexation of five regions of Ukraine. Ukraine’s best security guarantee would be membership in NATO, but the Trump administration insisted that cannot happen.