Ukraine Trails Moldova on EU Path, European Commission Says Corruption Fight Is the Reason

In brief

• The European Commission says Ukraine trails Moldova in EU accession because its anti-corruption efforts have not yet produced the required results.
• Moldova could finish accession negotiations by early 2028, while Ukraine would need about one more year and faster reforms.
• Moldova is rated well advanced on interim rule-of-law benchmarks, with 25 negotiating chapters planned to close in 2027 against a far slower start for Ukraine.

Commission's assessment

The European Commission says Ukraine is lagging behind Moldova on the road to EU membership because its efforts to fight corruption have not yet delivered the desired results (Україна відстає від Молдови на шляху до ЄС: у Єврокомісії назвали причину – UNIAN). The two countries applied to join the bloc in 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and have since moved forward in tandem.

In its annual enlargement reports, Brussels said Moldova has a chance to complete membership negotiations before the start of 2028. Ukraine would need another year, along with a faster pace of reforms, to finish the same process.

Moldova ahead on interim benchmarks

Moldova is rated as well advanced in meeting interim benchmarks on the rule of law, known as IBAR (Молдова може обігнати Україну на шляху до ЄС уже цього року – Єврокомісія – radiosvoboda.org) (ЄС у дорожніх картах визнав, що Молдова обігнала Україну на шляху вступу | Європейська правда – com.ua). The Commission has reportedly prepared a positive IBAR assessment for Chisinau and is expected to send it to member states for approval. Without meeting IBAR, a country cannot move on to closing negotiating chapters. Ukraine's expected completion of this stage falls in the first half of 2027.

Chapter timelines

The roadmaps show a sharp difference in planned pace. For Ukraine, the Commission planned to begin closing chapters at the end of the first quarter of 2027, a target analysts consider ambitious given Kyiv's current progress on IBAR. For Moldova, the plan envisages closing nine chapters in the first half of 2027 and 16 more by the end of that year, 25 in total.

Corruption and EU support

The Commission praised Ukraine's efforts "in the most difficult circumstances caused by Russia's aggressive war," but said Kyiv still needs to show significant progress in fighting corruption. Brussels has set up a special working group to help Ukraine speed up reforms on the rule of law.

Montenegro

The Commission also said Montenegro could sign its accession treaty in the middle of next year. If EU governments and the European Parliament approve it, Montenegro would become the first new member since Croatia joined in 2013.

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• EU weighs narrower, slower roadmap for Ukraine accession, with no date for membership