EU chief diplomat believes Ukraine has historic opportunity to link its future with EU

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said in a speech marking the 20th anniversary of the European Union’s largest accession wave that today’s candidate countries – Ukraine among them – have a historic window of opportunity to firmly link their future with the EU.

Borrell said that the "European family" embraced 10 new member states 20 years ago, which he described as a "bold step" that united Europe after decades of divisions following World War II. 

"Yet, our work on the reunification of the continent is not complete. We knew it before 2022 and we know it even more today, with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine," Borrell said.

He added that over the past several years, millions of Europeans "showed their willingness and hope to join the EU project".

"The Western Balkans, Türkiye, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have a historic window of opportunity to strongly bind their future to the European Union. The EU enlargement is a transformative policy enhancing security, justice, and democracy while raising living standards of Europeans," Borrell said.

The EU and the candidate states are cooperating on security and defence to withstand today’s multiple geopolitical challenges together and to be able to better respond to them, Borrell added.

He stressed that future member states are required to strengthen their democratic institutions and uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"Candidate countries and the EU have the historic opportunity to build a bigger, deeper and stronger European Union," Borrell concluded.

In a joint statement on the 20th anniversary of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia's membership in the EU, the presidents of the three Baltic states have called for intergovernmental conferences to be held with Ukraine and Moldova, and for accession negotiations to begin in June 2024.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that her country's accession to the EU 20 years ago allowed it to help Ukraine today.

On 1 May 2004, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU. At the time of their accession, only 15 other countries were members of the EU, which is why this expansion is often referred to as the "Big Bang".