Ukraine may enter into EU in 2029 - enlargement commissioner

MOSCOW. July 10 (Interfax) - Ukraine's entry into the European Union in 2030 is realistic, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said, adding that she aimed at achieving the goal earlier, in 2029, Ukrainian media reported.

"I am saying 2029 because my mandate [as the European commissioner] ends in 2029. I will do everything in my power," the media quoted Kos as saying at a penal debate on the URC2025 sidelines in Rome on Wednesday.

Both negotiating parties have rather tough positions but they are making headway, she said.

"I do not know whether Ukraine may become a NATO member and when but I know that Ukraine will become a member of the European Union," the media quoted Kos as saying.

As reported, the EU procedure defines 35 negotiating chapters. In those chapters, the European Commission first conducts an official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law. Thirty-three of 35 negotiating chapters are grouped into six thematic clusters, while chapters 34 Institutions and 35 Other issues will be considered separately.

After her appointment in the fall of 2024, Kos predicted in an interview with Ukrainian media that the first negotiating cluster, Fundamentals, may open for Ukraine in the first half of 2025, most likely in April-May.

Later on, she said she was hoping that three more clusters would open in the first half of the year followed by another three by the yearend. That has not happened for now because Hungary has been blocking the process.