The European Council grants Ukraine and Moldova European Union candidate status

The European Council, on Thursday, granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status for European Union membership.

In what the European Council president, President Charles Michel, called a “historic moment,” the announcement was made after discussions among leaders of the EU’s 27 member states during a summit Thursday in Brussels.

The European Commission had, last week, recommended that Ukraine should be granted candidate status to pave way for the country’s membership of the bloc. The commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, had said Ukraine had “already implemented roughly 70 per cent of rules, norms and standards.”

In a statement approving the candidate status, The European Council said, “The European Council recognises the European perspective of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The future of these countries and their citizens lies within the European Union.