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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is making key progress toward becoming a member state of the European Union (EU).
“The European Commission’s Enlargement Package Report confirms: Ukraine is confidently moving toward EU membership and ready to open Clusters 1, 2, and 6,” Zelenskyy wrote Tuesday on X.
“This is the best assessment to date—proof that even as we defend against Russia’s full-scale aggression, Ukraine continues to reform and transform according to European standards.”
Ukraine has been an EU candidate country since it applied for membership in February 2022, days after Russia’s invasion began.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference at an EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, October 23, 2025. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)
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The European Commission released its 2025 Enlargement Package Report Tuesday, providing a status update on the progress of Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Turkey and Georgia in meeting the conditions for EU membership.
The commission praised Ukraine for showing “remarkable resilience” in the face of Russia’s invasion and a “strong commitment” to its EU accession path, but noted concerns about the country “ensuring a robust and independent anti-corruption framework.”
Zelenskyy signed a controversial bill into law in late July that critics said would undermine the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Following public protests across Ukraine and international pressure, he signed a new law on July 31 reversing the changes.
The commission called on Ukraine in its report to preserve the independence of anti-corruption institutions and to expand the jurisdiction of NABU.
Ukrainian MPs vote for a bill stripping anti-corruption institutions of their independence on July 22, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Parliament moved to curtail the autonomy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. (Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
“Ukraine has adopted roadmaps on the rule of law, public administration, and the functioning of democratic institutions, as well as an action plan on national minorities, which the Commission assessed positively. Ukraine has met the conditions required to open clusters: one (fundamentals), six (external relations), and two (internal market),” read a press release from the European Commission.
“The Commission expects Ukraine to meet the conditions to open the remaining three clusters and works to ensure that the Council is in a position to take forward the opening of all clusters before the end of the year.”
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It added that the Ukrainian government has signaled its objective to provisionally close accession negotiations by the end of 2028.
“The Commission is committed to support this ambitious objective but considers that, to meet it an acceleration of the pace of reforms is required, notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law,” the press release continued.
Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s prime minister, wrote on X that the report showed the country’s best result in three years.
“The course toward EU membership remains among the top priorities of our President, Parliament, and Government,” she said.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has blocked Ukraine’s EU accession progress, told reporters in October that he’s proposed a “strategical agreement” with Kyiv instead of advancing talks toward full EU membership.
“Membership is too much,” Orbán explained. “We need [a] strategic agreement only.”