EU Commission approves start of Ukraine membership talks

The executive body has also recommended that Moldova be invited to begin accession discussions

The European Commission on Wednesday recommended launching membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova once the two countries have concluded reforms required by the bloc.

In a statement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described it as “a historic day because today the commission recommends that the [EU] council opens accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.” 

Kiev has been “deeply reforming” the country even amid the conflict with Moscow, von der Leyen claimed. She further stated that Ukraine had already carried out “well over 90% of the necessary steps” for membership set out by the bloc last year. 

“On this basis, we have recommended today that the council opens accession negotiations. We also recommend that the council adopts a negotiating framework once Ukraine has carried out the ongoing reforms,” von der Leyen added.

The EU chief made a similar recommendation for Moldova, arguing it had “undertaken significant reform efforts.” The progress made by the two countries will be assessed in March 2024, and should all of the EU-required reforms be concluded, “the council could then finalize the negotiating framework,” von der Leyen explained. 

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However, the EU official offered no concrete timeline for when the enlargement of the bloc might actually happen. Earlier this year, European Council President Charles Michel argued the EU should prepare to expand by 2030, although von der Leyen openly opposed that suggestion. Speaking to Moldovan media after the announcement on Wednesday, she reiterated that 2030 should not be viewed as a deadline of any sort. 

“I am confident that Moldova will make rapid progress on its path to the EU. Its efforts are impressive. But since we say that EU membership is a process based primarily on merit, we should not focus on 2030. For some it may happen sooner or later,” she stated.

Two other aspiring members of the bloc, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, received more cautious approval for the start of talks. Regarding the former, the commission “recommends the opening of EU accession negotiations… once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved,” von der Leyen said. 

Concerning Georgia, the EU chief urged Tbilisi to follow EU policies more closely. While the bloc’s leadership “fully supports the genuine aspirations of the overwhelming majority of [Georgian] citizens to join,” such aspirations “need to be better mirrored by the authorities who should engage more with the opposition and civil society on matters of national interest,” she stated. The commission nonetheless recommended granting Georgia candidate status “on the understanding that the government takes important reform steps.”

White House ‘not encouraging’ Ukraine peace talks

A State Department representative rebutted media reports claiming that Washington is urging Kiev to negotiate with Moscow

The US is not pushing Ukraine toward negotiations with Russia, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel has insisted, commenting on media reports claiming that such efforts are taking place behind closed doors. Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that at least some of his country’s Western backers are likely engaged in back-channel communications with Moscow.

Answering a reporter’s question during a press briefing on Tuesday, Patel said that any such talks “are up to Ukraine,” reiterating Washington’s professed position – “nothing should happen about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

The official went on to claim that the “Kremlin has no interest in negotiating or ending this war.”

In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, President Zelensky conceded that “there are some countries [where] on the level of intelligence or advisers of leaders… maybe they speak with Russia. Maybe they think how to manage everything.” He stressed, however, that the West had not exerted any overt pressure to force him into talks.

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According to Zelensky, talks are impossible until Russian troops leave the territory within Ukraine’s 1991 borders – one of the key points of his peace formula. Russia, in turn, has dismissed Ukraine’s conditions as detached from reality.

NBC had on the previous day claimed, citing anonymous US officials, that Washington had been conducting unofficial “delicate” discussions with Kiev regarding concessions that Ukraine would be ready to make in potential peace negotiations with its neighbor. The outlet quoted its sources as saying that the issue was brought up last month during a meeting of Kiev’s backers.

According to the report, the discussions were prompted by growing concerns in the West that the conflict “has reached a stalemate.” Ukraine’s supporters are also reportedly unsure whether they will be able to continue providing defense aid to the country in the long run, with their resources now being urgently diverted to Israel amid its operation against Hamas.

Another issue that has Western governments worried is that Kiev is “running out of forces,” potentially meaning that, even if supplied, additional weaponry will not “do a lot of good,” NBC alleged.

The media outlet also quoted unnamed US officials as warning that Ukraine may only have several months “before more urgent discussions about peace negotiations should begin.”

NBC’s latest report came after months of attempts by Ukraine to win back lost territory, which have so far failed to produce any significant breakthrough. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost more than 90,000 troops in its counteroffensive, which was launched in early June.

Syrian refugee shot by EU border guard

A Polish soldier allegedly fired his gun by accident while on patrol and could face up to three years in prison

A 22-year-old Syrian man was hospitalized on Saturday after a Polish soldier patrolling near the Belarusian border “tripped” and shot him in the back, state news outlet the Polish Press Agency reported on Sunday.  

Military police officers are said to be investigating the “unfortunate accident,” which the deputy for military affairs from the Bialystok-Polnoc District’s prosecutor’s office confirmed was the result of a “soldier tripping.” 

The soldier, who has not been named, could face up to three years in prison for careless handling of weapons and unintentionally causing injury to another person, penalties that could increase to eight years if his victim is found to be gravely injured or dies of his wounds.

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The migrant was taken to a hospital in Hajnowka and was reportedly in stable condition awaiting surgery as of Monday. However, the bullet’s position near his spine put him at risk of paralysis, according to aid workers.

The Syrian told migrant aid NGO Grupa Granica that he had heard a “single, incomprehensible scream” and a gunshot before he was knocked to the ground after crossing several kilometers into Poland from Belarus with a group of his countrymen.

He claimed to hear three more shots before losing consciousness and said it was daylight when he was hit. “The soldiers must have seen them clearly,” Grupa Granica suggested in a Facebook post, adding that the NGO was providing legal and psychological assistance to the man while he was hospitalized. He reportedly wants to seek international protection in Poland.

When soldiers found him and called for an ambulance, they also discovered the body of a second Syrian, believed to be an individual that authorities and activists were previously looking for. While police and prosecutors have yet to confirm his identity or how he died, his demise is believed to be unrelated to the “accidental” shooting.

Poland has accused neighboring Belarus of weaponizing migration, claiming officials have guided migrants to weak spots in the border and even cut holes in border fences in order to dump undesirables on the EU country. In turn, Polish border guards have been accused of violently shoving migrants back through the border into Belarus, which is illegal under international law. 

Including the newly-discovered body, 55 people have died crossing the EU’s border with Belarus, Euronews reported. The Polish border guard has counted 24,000 attempts at illegally crossing from Belarus this year alone. 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko insisted last month during a visit to military facilities bordering Poland and Ukraine that his country was a “good neighbor” to Poland, telling reporters that Minsk had “never set out to fight with the Poles or even to aggravate relations with them.”

EU state’s new government blocks Ukraine aid package

Bratislava has stopped the flow of donated weapons to Kiev, but won’t ban commercial supplies

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico rejected on Wednesday a proposal to send €40.3 million ($43 million) worth of military equipment to Ukraine – a deal that was put into the pipeline by the previous government of the EU nation.

The aid package, which would have been the 14th for the country since the onset of the Ukraine conflict last year, included eight mortars and a significant amount of munitions. Fico’s decision was “expected,” according to local media outlets, since he campaigned on a promise to stop military assistance to Kiev in favor of defending national interests.

“The Slovak government will help Ukraine humanitarianly, not militarily. We want peace, not war,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok pledged on social media on Wednesday.

Despite the pro-peace sentiment, however, Slovakia will still allow the commercial sale of weapons to Ukraine.

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“If a company wants to manufacture weapons and deliver those, then we won’t prevent this, of course,” Fico said on Monday, following a meeting with newly-appointed Defense Minister Robert Kalinak.

Bratislava’s previous government was a staunch supporter of Kiev in its fight against Moscow, having provided €671 million ($716 million) worth of weapons, according to the defense ministry.

A large portion of the sum accounts for decommissioned MiG-29 fighter jets and the 2K12 Kub air defense system. Both are Soviet-made weapons that Slovakia donated as part of a military upgrade to NATO-standard hardware.

Kalinak said he wanted to review some of the arms contracts fulfilled under the previous leadership.
Slovakia had signed a deal to produce 16 155 mm SpGH Zuzana 2 howitzers for Ukraine, which was paid for by other donors of Kiev, including Denmark, Norway, and Germany, according to the media.


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Fico leads a three-party coalition government, which was appointed in late October. It is his fourth term at the country’s helm. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018.