It is remarkable that Ukraine is making progress in imple­menting 7 EU Commission prior­ities despite Russia’s ongoing war of aggression. In his policy brief, Leonid Litra empha­sises why the EU enlargement and deepening process should take place simul­ta­ne­ously and argues why the EU should start accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine this year.

On the 8th of November the European Commission will for the first time ever present an enlargement report with recom­men­da­tions on Georgia. A few weeks later, the European Council will take a political decision on whether Georgia will be granted candidate status or will have to wait until autumn 2024. In his policy brief, Ivane Chkhik­vadze analyses the current state of EU reforms and makes concrete recom­men­da­tions for action.

The Moldovan expert, Denis Cenusa, analyses in his polcy brief that the Republic of Moldova has made progress in imple­menting the 9 prior­ities of the EU Commission, but also points out the obstacles and short­comings, especially in the area of the judiciary and the fight against corruption. Never­theless, he recom­mends that, given the geopo­litical and strategic reasons, the EU should start accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine and Moldova as well as with Georgia in December 2023.