Twelve EU member states have called on the Belgian presidency of the EU Council to speed up negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on accession to the bloc, reports Yevropeyska Pravda citing ČTK.
The letter was initiated by the Minister of European Affairs of the Czech government, Martin Dvořák, and addressed to Belgian Foreign Minister Aja Labib. The letter was signed by Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia.
They praised "the steps taken by the Belgian EU Presidency in the accession process of Ukraine and Moldova" and stressed the need to motivate both states through gradual integration into EU policies and programmes towards full membership.
The signatories of the letter noted that the EU Council should approve the negotiation framework for Ukraine and Moldova no later than June. This will allow convening intergovernmental conferences with Kyiv and Chisinau by the end of this month.
The Czech minister stressed that "now is the right time to move forward and take certain steps in the process of Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the EU".