Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda has warned that decoupling Moldova from Ukraine in the EU accession negotiations could have catastrophic consequences for Ukrainian society. Speaking at a press conference in Helsinki alongside his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, the Lithuanian leader called on the EU Council to open the first negotiation cluster for both candidate countries by the end of this year, reports IPN.
Gitanas Nausėda emphasized that Lithuania is a “very strong” supporter of Ukraine’s European path. “I believe it is very important to link the accession paths of both countries, Moldova and Ukraine,” the official stated.
In this context, the Vilnius leader noted that Lithuania is one of Ukraine’s most loyal supporters, both militarily and politically, stating that the country has decided to spend at least 0.25% of its GDP on aid to Ukraine.
The opening of the first cluster of negotiations with both Chisinau and Kiev was expected in the first half of this year. This did not happen due to Budapest’s veto for Kiev. Hungary claims that there would be a lack of rights for the Hungarian-speaking minority in Ukraine. Since the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are “coupled” in the negotiation process, this blockage also affects Chisinau.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated last week that she rejects the idea of potentially decoupling Moldova and Ukraine in the negotiation process: “We are working to ensure that the opening of the clusters occurs simultaneously for both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.”