EU should consider Ukraine and Moldova's accession applications quickly – European Commission Vice President

Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, has said that the EU should quickly consider Ukraine and Moldova's applications for membership.

Dombrovskis said in an interview with Politico it would be perfect if 27 European capitals agreed on a framework for negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova's membership before the European Council summit in June.

"The world is watching. Now is not the time to dither," Dombrovskis said.

He also said that the EU is facing uneven growth and "competitiveness challenges" among its existing members that could hurt it in the long run.

"We are facing the green and digital transformation of our economies … and it’s very important that in this process we are not leaving countries and regions behind," Dombrovskis said.

However, he pointed out that 20 years after 10 Central and Eastern European countries joined the EU, it is clear that enlargement was the right step "both geopolitically and economically."

Earlier, Czech President Petr Pavel expressed support for new rounds of EU enlargement on the 20th anniversary of his country's accession to the EU.

At the same time, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for the Western Balkan countries to join the EU as soon as possible.

Before that, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reiterated his position that the EU should focus its efforts on completing the accession of the Western Balkans, and that "eastern enlargement" should be addressed later.