EU nations share 'fairly broad consensus' to grant candidate status to Ukraine: French Min

Nearly three days after the heavy-weight leaders of France, Italy, and Germany visited war-torn Ukraine and took a "first-hand glimpse" of Russia's brutal aggression, it seems the members of the European Union (EU) have reached a common consent over granting EU membership to Kyiv. In the major development, the ministers backed granting "candidate status" to Ukraine during a meeting held with top EU ministers on Tuesday. According to French state secretary for European affairs Clement Beaune, nearly all the current members of the union voiced their support to welcome Ukraine into the 27-member bloc. He said that the formal decision will be announced by the union during the forthcoming EU Summit this week.

There is a “fairly broad consensus” for granting EU candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia but the conditions “are not going to be quite probably the same for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia,” Beaune explained as per Anadolu Agency.

Apart from Kyiv, the minister, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said that the members have also vowed to support Moldova in getting EU membership. Notably, nearly a week after the start of the war, Moldova officially applied for membership in the European Union. Meanwhile, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn affirmed that all member countries have vowed to support Ukraine and Moldova and added that not a single country has opposed the move. "We will demonstrate great consensus," he stressed.

Netherland also vowed their support to Ukraine

Notably, on Friday, the European Commission recommended designating Ukraine as a candidate for European Union membership. The Netherlands, which was earlier projected as a major hurdle in granting membership to Ukraine, also extended support to Kyiv, hours after the EU's announcement. Calling the European Commission’s recommendation a "reasonable compromise", Dutch Premier Mark Rutte said both proponents and contenders of Ukraine’s candidacy can agree with this conclusion. He said that the cabinet has found Ukraine's candidature both "balanced" and "sensible" and added that his country will support Ukraine for the sake of unity in Europe.

However, the EU members said that the commission will take a "rigorous" conditionality in taking Ukraine forward. Notably, after the onset of the war, Zelenskyy signed an application for membership of his country in the European Union. While explaining the reason for joining the 27-member bloc, Zelenskyy affirmed, "Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing."

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