EU Parliament votes on candidate status for Ukraine

The motion in support of Kiev’s bid preceded the European Council summit, where EU leaders are expected to make the decision

A large majority of MEPs have supported granting Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia EU candidate status. The vote came ahead of the European Council summit later on Thursday and Friday, which is expected to decide whether to accept the three EU hopefuls’ bids.

Some 529 members of the European parliament voted for the adoption of the resolution, 45 against, with 14 others abstaining during the vote on Thursday.

Ahead of historic 🇪🇺 EU Council meeting @Europarl_EN gives Ukraine unambiguous backing for EU candidate status (and a standing ovation) 👏🏼👏🏼🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/FS65bXG18m
— Barry Andrews MEP (@BarryAndrewsMEP) June 23, 2022

This was preceded by a plenary session on Wednesday, after which a press release was issued, advocating in favor of bestowing the much-coveted status on the three nations.

“In light of Putin’s aggression and the commitment shown by the Ukrainian, Moldovan, and Georgian peoples towards their European future, an overwhelming majority of MEPs called on the EU’s leaders to open the path to accession for all three countries,” the document read.

The statement noted, however, that a number of MEPs had emphasized the importance of continued reform in Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia in particular. Others noted that the path to EU membership would be lengthy for these three nations.