Negotiations on Ukraine's accession to EU to begin by end of June – European Commission head

Negotiations between the European Union and Ukraine regarding joining the bloc should begin by the end of June, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin.

"Ukraine has completed all the steps that we have prescribed, that we have formulated. And that is why we believe that the EU should start accession negotiations by the end of this month," she said.

At the same time, it is another institution of the European Union – the Council of the EU – that is responsible for this decision. It is currently chaired by Belgium, but from July 1 it will be headed by Hungary, whose leadership opposes Ukrainian integration.

At the end of May,  Politico claimed that precisely for reasons of counteraction, Belgium seeks to start these negotiations at the Council on general issues: it meets once a month and gathers the ministers of foreign affairs of the EU member states.

This meeting should take place on June 25.

On May 30, the German government announced that Ukraine had fulfilled all the requirements for reforms necessary for the start of negotiations on joining the EU.

On June 5, 12 EU member states appealed to the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU with a call to start negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the bloc.

Elections to the European Parliament were held in the EU on June 6-9.