EU Enlargement: Ukraine and Moldova Advance in Accession Negotiations

Both Ukraine and Moldova make significant progress in EU membership talks as political will for eastern enlargement strengthens.

Bigger Europe: Accession Talks Advance Despite War and Complexity

The European Union's enlargement agenda has gained significant momentum in 2026, with both Ukraine and Moldova making substantial progress in accession negotiations that would have seemed improbable just a few years ago. The acceleration reflects a genuine political shift in European capitals, where the strategic argument for EU membership as an anchor of stability and democratic consolidation has been reinforced by the experience of war and geopolitical competition on the continent's eastern border.

Ukraine's accession process has progressed despite the ongoing war, a testament to the Ukrainian government's determination to pursue reform even under conditions of military conflict. Several negotiating chapters — covering areas including justice reform, anti-corruption measures, and approximation with EU single market rules — have been provisionally opened and initial assessments made. European Commission evaluators have praised the pace and seriousness of Ukrainian reform efforts while noting that the chapters covering competition, state aid, and agriculture will require deep structural changes that will take years to implement fully.

Moldova, a smaller and more economically fragile country, has leveraged its EU candidacy to drive a remarkable reform momentum. President Maia Sandu's government has maintained its pro-European orientation despite significant Russian interference efforts and has implemented judicial reforms, anti-corruption measures, and economic liberalisation commitments that have earned positive assessments from Commission evaluators. The provisional opening of several negotiating chapters has been celebrated as concrete proof that the accession process is substantive rather than symbolic.

The broader enlargement agenda also encompasses the Western Balkans — Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo — where progress has been slower and where the strategic urgency of the Ukraine context has refocused attention on the risks of leaving the region in a grey zone between the EU and competing Russian and Chinese influence. The European Parliament's enlarged committee for foreign affairs has pushed for a more credible and conditional engagement with Western Balkan candidates, arguing that the status quo is serving neither European interests nor those of the countries concerned.