Negotiations on Ukraine's accession to EU start in Luxembourg today

The first Intergovernmental Conference on Ukraine's accession to the European Union will start today at 16:30 Kyiv time in Luxembourg.

The conference will be the official start of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU.

At 19:00, a similar conference on Moldova's accession to the bloc will take place.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Kyiv and Chisinau on the start of accession negotiations.

"This is very good news for the people of Ukraine, Moldova and the entire European Union. The road ahead will be challenging but full of opportunities. We wish you a successful start to the negotiations," she said.

The conference will consist of three parts: an opening statement by Belgium as the EU presidency; a statement by Ukraine; and speeches and remarks by member states, Yevropeyska Pravda reports.

Ukraine's delegation is headed by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, and the EU's by Belgian Foreign Minister Aja Labib.

At the conference, the EU will present Ukraine with a general framework for negotiations that sets out the key principles of the negotiation process.

The intergovernmental conference will formally launch the negotiations, and the negotiations will begin with the opening of the negotiating chapters. The first chapters and clusters to be opened will be those on the EU's fundamental issues. According to an optimistic forecast, the opening of the first chapters or the first chapter will take place in early 2025.