23 Jun 2022 21:46

EU leaders grant EU candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova

BRUSSELS. June 23 (Interfax) - The leaders of the European Union countries have agreed to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, European Council President Charles Michel said on Thursday.

"[European Council] EUCO has just decided EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova," he said on Twitter.

The Bloomberg news agency noted that the EU authorities had agreed that Georgia needed to meet a number of conditions before it could receive this status.

The EU accession process includes several main stages: application, obtaining candidate status, negotiations, ratification and integration.

Currently, the list of candidate countries includes Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Talks on Turkey's accession have been underway since 2005, and on Montenegro's admission since 2012.