Negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova joining the European Union will begin on Tuesday, June 25, the Belgian government announced on Friday.

“This is a big day for Ukraine, Moldova, and the European Union,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X.

Belgium, which is acting on behalf of EU member states until the end of this month, said on X that ministers had approved the negotiating plans for talks with the two countries, allowing the negotiations to begin next week.

“Becoming an EU member is our path to peace, prosperity, and a better life for all citizens,” said Moldovan President Maia Sandu on X, who added that the first round of talks will be held in Luxembourg.

Ukraine and Moldova applied for EU membership after Russia’s full-scale invasion of the former in February 2022. Moldova, like its larger neighbour Ukraine, has a breakaway region called Transnistria that aligns itself with Russia.

But the start of talks does not mean the two countries will be joining the EU any time soon: every step of the process requires unanimous agreement among current member states, and several other countries have been waiting far longer.

“Ukraine’s path to today has not been easy, involving a revolution and a war. But, thanks to the Ukrainian people’s bravery, we have not let anyone or anything derail our historic trajectory,” Kuleba said.

“Ukraine has also set a record by moving from the EU membership bid to the start of negotiations in just over two years, faster than any other candidate in history.”

He said this was achieved with “no discounts.”

“Ukraine diligently met all of the requirements and implemented critical reforms to enable this historic day. We accomplished this despite fighting a total war for our survival,” he said.

EU leaders formally recognized Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for membership one year ago, in June 2023.

They granted candidate status to Georgia in December 2023, at the same time as agreeing to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova.

The other official candidates are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

The last country to be admitted to the EU was Croatia, which joined in 2013. Romania and Bulgaria joined in 2007 and 10 countries joined in 2004.