European Commission Starts Debate on Granting Moldova EU Candidate Status

European commissioners will start discussing the granting of candidate status for membership of the European Union to Ukraine, as well as Moldova and Georgia, ria.ru writes. On Monday, there will be a general debate, and on Friday, June 17, the European Commission must determine its views and prepare a recommendation. The decision to grant or not to grant candidate status will be taken by the EU heads of state and government at a summit in Brussels on June 23-24, taking into account the recommendation of the European Commission. Candidate status is necessary to begin accession talks with the EU. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen visited Kiev on Saturday for consultations as part of her report. “We want to support Ukraine on its European path. We want to look to the future,” the head of the European Commission said after the visit. According to her, Ukraine has done a lot, but a lot more needs to be done. According to the European media, the European Commission may present a positive conclusion for Ukraine but with reservations. Last week, the leaders of the European Parliament factions called on the participants in the June 23-24 summit of the EU to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, as well as to continue working on such a status for Georgia. Noi.md