Ukraine and Moldova have fulfilled the EU's requirements to initiate talks on membership in the union, confirms an EU Commission spokesperson.
As a result, formal talks on membership can begin – once member states agree.
Ukraine and Moldova have met their respective four and three remaining EU criteria, including anti-corruption efforts and minority language protection, according to the Commission.
With this announcement, the decision is now in the hands of member states, which will give the final green light once they agree. Hungary is expected to generally try to put the brakes on Ukraine's further process.
Hungarians have opposed Ukraine's EU membership citing discontent with how Ukraine handles its Hungarian minority. The EU Commission wants to start membership talks as early as June, according to sources at Financial Times and Politico, to avoid the issue getting stuck when Hungary takes over as the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.
Candidate country Georgia, which recently raised concerns by pushing through controversial legislation inspired by Russia, will have to wait for its talks to begin.
Membership negotiations are expected to take a significant amount of time once they get underway. A real EU membership for Ukraine and Moldova is predicted to take a year or more.
