On the 23rd of June 2022, Ukraine and Moldova were officially granted EU candidate status.
To better understand the challenges and opportunities related to this European development, we have interviewed the expert Laurien Crump, associate professor in the History of International Relations at Utrecht University.
The European Union family might get bigger!
On the 23rd of June 2022, Ukraine and Moldova were officially granted EU candidate status. Charles Michel, president of the European Council welcomed the event with a tweet describing the decision as an "historic moment." The candidate status was indeed backed by the 27 members of the European Union.
However, there are some other countries on the European continent that do not share the same enthusiasm. Georgia had started its membership application procedure together with Moldova soon after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, yet according to the European Commission Georgia has not yet fulfilled all the democratic principles that are needed to be awarded the candidate status. Whereas North Macedonia and Albania welcomed the EU decision with dissatisfaction, feeling left out by the EU construction.
Alice Carnevali, Académie Euradio