The EU summit decided to launch membership talks with Ukraine. In a surprising turn of events, the leaders of the European Union decided on Thursday to launch membership discussions with Ukraine. This was something that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had sworn to prevent for several weeks.
After European Council President Charles Michel, the chairman of the meeting, said, “The European Council has decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova,” Hungary stated that it was a poor choice.
He suggested that the summit will also pursue an EU application by another prospect, Bosnia, after obtaining “the necessary degree of compliance” with requirements. Meanwhile, he stated that the meeting would offer candidate status to Georgia as a member of the European Union.
“The Ukrainian people have won this battle. A triumph for the entirety of Europe. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the President of Ukraine, referred to the triumph as “a victory that motivated, inspired, and strengthened.”
Orban stated on Facebook that he had no intention of participating in what he referred to as a poor choice and, hence, had chosen to abstain from voting.
At the beginning of the day, when the 27 leaders of the European Union were meeting for their final summit of the year, Orban urged that the European Union should not begin membership discussions with Ukraine.
The authorities had warned that they were getting ready for a lengthy and challenging meeting. Michel did not elaborate on the process that was used to arrive at the conclusion, which required unanimous consent.
During the nearly two years that it has been fighting against Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine has been in desperate need of backing from its Western partners. It has not been successful in making significant advancements with its counteroffensive, and the government of Vice President Joe Biden has not been able to convince the United States Congress to approve a $60 billion assistance package for Kyiv.
At the conference, which took place at a crucial juncture for Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion, Orban was the only one who refused to submit to the process.
Earlier in the day, other leaders of the European Union had issued a warning that if they had not agreed to begin discussions, it would have been interpreted as a triumph for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.
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