(Bloomberg) — The European Union will “expeditiously” advance the first phase of accession talks for Ukraine and Moldova in the first half of 2025 under Poland’s rotating presidency of the bloc, according to a senior official in Warsaw.

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Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marek Prawda said EU negotiators will open two negotiation areas for the two applicants, namely the rule of law and foreign relations, as the 27-member bloc grapples with a more turbulent security environment in the coming years.

However, with a total of 35 negotiating chapters and Ukraine still at war, any process is likely to take years, meaning EU membership will remain a distant possibility.

“EU enlargement is considered by us as a tool that will help eliminate gray zones in terms of security,” Prawda said in an interview last week, referring to talks with Ukraine, Moldova and countries in the Western Balkans region.

The re-election of Donald Trump as US president and the prospect of declining support for Ukraine have increased European governments’ sense of urgency in confronting security challenges outside the US security umbrella, such as Russia’s increasing aggression.

This also brought renewed focus to Ukraine and Moldova’s goals of joining the EU. Prawda said the latest scans showed “real progress” on accession, giving impetus to the opening of two areas or “clusters” in the first half of 2025, comprising five chapters on the rule of law and another two on foreign relations.

The deputy minister’s comments are a more optimistic assessment, especially for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his disappointment with the signals coming from Poland that prevent it from quickly joining the EU. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Kiev, II. He insisted that the EU overcome all obstacles, including demanding that the remains of Polish victims of a World War II massacre be exhumed.

A Long Process

Prawda also said that the participation of the two countries will not involve shortcuts and all commitments must be fulfilled. Only in this way will Ukraine and Moldova win the support of all member states, which must eventually approve their accession, the official said.

“In this context, very concrete issues such as milk quotas or other agricultural and economic limits are vital,” Prawda said.

Ukraine and Moldova secured EU candidate status in 2022, months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion and negotiations began this year. It took a decade for Croatia, the last country to join the bloc, to be officially admitted in 2013.

“Given Ukraine’s progress towards reform and the results of the screening, we are ready to open two clusters during Poland’s presidency,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said last week.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between EU member Romania and Ukraine, has had to deal with its own internal divisions. Ultimately, last month’s referendum to join the bloc was narrowly approved, disrupting President Maia Sandu’s goals of integrating with the West. Still, he was elected to a second term two weeks later.

Deputy Prime Minister Cristina Gherasimov, Moldova’s chief EU negotiator, said progress in the accession process was vital because it would face a bigger test next year when the country holds parliamentary elections – which she described as a “big prize” for Russia’s attempts to disrupt. Moscow has denied any such activity.

“By showing that the EU is serious about enlargement and progressing negotiations, we will be able to once again refute Russian disinformation narratives about the EU,” Gherasimov said in an interview with Bloomberg.

–With help from Lina Grau.

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