Moldova Pulls Ahead of Ukraine in EU Membership Talks

Moldova is positioned to advance substantially faster than Ukraine in European Union membership talks under European Commission roadmaps unveiled on Wednesday, Nov. 4.European Pravda reported that Moldova’s roadmap envisages provisionally closing nine negotiating chapters in the first half of 2027 and another 16 in the second half – 25 over the year.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Ukraine’s roadmap identifies seven chapters that could be provisionally closed during the same period, highlighting a gap in readiness between two countries whose accession processes have largely advanced together.The documents set conditional milestones for negotiations, with progress dependent on implementing reforms and securing approval from EU member states.Rule-of-law benchmarks determine the paceThe difference centers partly on how far each country has progressed toward meeting interim requirements on the rule of law.The Commission considers Moldova well advanced in preparing to meet those benchmarks. Its roadmap says Brussels will present an assessment and a draft common position to the Council, allowing member states to consider the next step.Ukraine still needs to accelerate reforms to reach that stage.“The focus should now be on meeting the interim benchmarks under the rule of law,” the Commission said.It also called for work on democratic institutions, public administration and Ukraine’s national-minorities action plan.At the same time, the Commission said Ukraine’s anti-corruption framework remained effective, with specialized institutions generally continuing to operate independently despite Russia’s ongoing war. Other Topics of Interest Europe Upbeat on Ukraine After US Midterm but Cautions Against Reliance on Washington European officials say the shift in Congress could help Ukraine, but few expect an immediate change in US policy. Ukraine could begin closing chapters in 2027Ukraine’s roadmap envisages meeting the necessary rule-of-law benchmarks in the first half of 2027, creating a path toward provisionally closing individual chapters.The seven areas identified are education and culture; intellectual property; social policy and employment; enterprise and industrial policy; science and research; external relations; and foreign, security and defense policy.The Commission’s timetable envisages closing the education and culture chapter in the first half of the year, followed by the other six in the second half.The roadmap can be revised as reforms progress, leaving room for Ukraine to move faster if it fulfills requirements earlier.Both countries have opened 4 negotiating clustersUkraine and Moldova have each opened four of the six broad policy clusters organizing accession negotiations.Their latest advance came on Oct. 13, when both opened talks on the internal market and competitiveness and inclusive growth, covering 17 chapters. The EU also established benchmarks for their provisional closure.For Ukraine, that breakthrough followed education amendments expanding rights for national minorities whose languages are official EU languages.Hungary subsequently dropped its objections to those two clusters. President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar then met in Brussels on Oct. 16 and agreed to rebuild political and economic relations.However, Hungary blocked another procedural step on Oct. 20 by refusing to approve screening results for Ukraine’s remaining clusters, European Pravda reported, citing diplomats.Those clusters cover the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, and resources, agriculture and cohesion. Their scope includes energy, transport, environmental protection, farming and regional policy.Opening them requires agreement among all 27 member states. The Commission wants both countries’ remaining clusters opened before the end of 2026.Neither roadmap guarantees a membership dateUkraine and Moldova remain among the four most advanced negotiating countries, alongside Montenegro and Albania.The Commission supports Ukraine’s ambition to complete accession negotiations by the end of 2028, while warning that reforms must accelerate. It describes Moldova’s objective of finishing by early 2028 as ambitious but achievable if reform momentum continues.Those national targets are distinct from binding accession dates.Under the EU’s accession rules, every member government must be satisfied before a chapter can close.Completing negotiations would then require an accession treaty, institutional approvals and ratification by the candidate country and every existing EU member state. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.