Ukraine and Moldova are to begin membership negotiations with the EU on 25 June.
The EU ambassadors have in principle agreed on this, according to the Belgian presidency on X.
A week ago, an EU spokesperson stated that the EU Commission wants to initiate membership negotiations for the two countries after they were deemed to have fulfilled the Union's remaining criteria, including anti-corruption efforts and protection of minority languages.
By initiating negotiations as early as June, the EU hopes to avoid the issue getting stuck when Hungary takes over the EU Council presidency from Belgium on 1 July. The Hungarians have opposed Ukrainian EU membership, citing dissatisfaction with Ukraine's treatment of its Hungarian minority.
The membership negotiations are expected to take considerable time once they are underway. An actual EU membership for Ukraine and Moldova is predicted to be years away.
In March, Bosnia and Herzegovina received the green light to start membership negotiations with the EU.
