EU could start Ukraine membership talks in June

Moscow (ANTARA) - The European Union could begin direct negotiations with Ukraine by the end of June regarding accession to the economic bloc, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said on Monday (11/5). “We will also discuss Ukraine, and today I will urge all member states to open all negotiation clusters as soon as possible,” Kos said ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. She stated that the first cluster could still be opened under the Cyprus presidency, while the other five clusters are expected to begin discussions in July. In the EU accession process, clusters represent groups of policy areas that candidate countries must negotiate and fulfil before becoming full members. However, candidate status and the start of negotiations do not automatically guarantee EU membership. Turkey has held candidate status since 1999, followed by North Macedonia in 2005, Montenegro in 2010, and Serbia in 2012, but none have yet become members. Croatia was the last country to join the EU in 2013 after undergoing an accession process of about 10 years.