2026-07-02

12. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the actions she will take to expedite EU membership for Ukraine and Moldova; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50086/26]

In congratulating the Minister as she embarks on our six-month Presidency of the European Council of Ministers, my question seeks to establish what she feels can be done to expedite Ukrainian and Moldovan membership of the EU. I ask this while welcoming the fact President Zelenskyy was front and centre at the celebrations of Ireland's accession to the Presidency yesterday. However, we must remember that Moldova cannot be left behind.

I acknowledge the colleagues who attended the opening ceremony yesterday. I hope President Zelenskyy's presence has shown not just our own citizens but the rest of Europe and the world that we fully support Ukraine and intend, through our Presidency, to do everything we can to continue that support and to put pressure on Russia. That includes supporting Ukraine on its accession path. I believe, as I think we all believe, that it is the only trajectory for Ukraine. The country is already defending every single one of us in its defence of itself. In so many ways, Ukraine is already part of our European community. It is about making sure we do everything we can to support the process for enlargement. We had that discussion at our bilateral meeting with President Zelenskyy. We discussed a number of things but particularly Ukraine's accession and how we can work towards that over the next six months. Enlargement is a priority for us during our Presidency. We all know the benefits Ireland has experienced from membership. It is important that we support through the accession process other countries that want to join the European community and the EU. Moldova and Ukraine are two of the current candidate countries. They both applied for membership in 2022 and opened accession negotiations in 2024. Last year's European Commission annual enlargement report indicated that Moldova made the most one-year progress of all candidates during the reporting period. The same report described Ukraine's progress as remarkable. The Commission has confirmed that both countries are technically ready to open all the negotiating clusters. It was very welcome that the first clusters opened for both Ukraine and Moldova two weeks ago. I acknowledge our colleagues in Cyprus and the work they have done to ensure that progress was made. From my visit to Ukraine earlier this year and from meeting representatives of Moldova, I am conscious of the very serious efforts both countries have been making to meet the challenge of aligning their laws with the EU acquis under unprecedented circumstances.

It is no wonder that Cyprus would be very sensitive to territorial integrity. As the Minister said, Ireland is committed to facilitating the opening of all remaining negotiating clusters with Ukraine and Moldova in the next six months. Enlargement is a merit-based process and, as recognised by the Commission, both Moldova and Ukraine have met the technical conditions for the opening of negotiations. However, there were reports last week that, faced with renewed resistance from Hungary, the EU has been forced to change its plans and now aims to unblock two, rather than five, accession clusters with Ukraine and Moldova before the summer break. The suggestion is that the Union has scaled back its ambitions for Ukraine's accession talks and is now targeting the opening of just two negotiating clusters, not five, in July. That would be regrettable. The Minister fully appreciates how vital progress is to Ukraine in the context of the current conflict. She will also appreciate how equally vital it is to Moldova, which really reminds me of Ireland in the 1950s, that it not be isolated, that it move forward in tandem with Ukraine and that its membership be actively expedited.

As I was saying, great efforts have been made by both countries, particularly by Ukraine in what are unimaginable conditions, to make the changes they are making. That is why we want to support them in the best way we can. It is why, when I was in Ukraine earlier this year, I met with civil society groups that are playing a key role in advocating for and bringing forward those changes as quickly as possible. The Deputy rightly pointed out some of the challenges we will face. For some time, under the Government of Viktor Orbán, we had significant challenges in reaching consensus to move forward on a number of supports for Ukraine, not least the €90 billion loan that was previously agreed by the Council leaders. That blockage has been removed and, thanks to the new Government under Péter Magyar, we have had the opening of the first round of clusters. Unfortunately, a potential blockage or issue has now emerged in regard to the opening of the remaining clusters. We are ambitious to open all five during our Presidency. That might not be straightforward but it just needs engagement and political dialogue. We need to work closely with all 26 member states to make sure issues of concern can be addressed and that we work towards opening all the remaining clusters. I would, of course, like to see both countries moving together. They started this process together and they have worked together on getting to where they are now. We want to work closely with both of them in order to open the remaining clusters. As we all know, once the clusters are opened that is the start of another process and obviously that takes time as well.

I think we are disappointed that the new government in Hungary is still causing some difficulties. I appreciate the need for sensitive negotiations with that new government so that it bring Hungary fully in line with European values, which would be very much supportive of this integration. The other matter is that there is a new government in Moldova, which has worked assiduously and has achieved great progress in preparing for EU membership. The issue of Transnistria, the occupied territory there, is a problem. Will the Minister assure us that she is and her fellow foreign ministers are conscious of this? Will she assure us that by continuing the occupation of Transnistria, the Russians are not going to be enabled to in some way frustrate the progress of Moldova moving towards full EU membership?

I am very conscious of the issue the Deputy has raised. Unfortunately, when we look at any of the countries on their path towards accession, nothing is straightforward for any country. Unfortunately, there are issues with individual member states and issues among those accession countries as well that still need to be resolved. That is why it takes as long as it does for a lot of countries. When I was in this role in European affairs ten years ago we were talking about Montenegro, Albania and other countries nearly being there. Now, ten years on, we hope to get Montenegro over the line later this year. We are working on the accession treaty. We hold the pen now for the next six months. We hope to close as many chapters as we can with Albania. Obviously, with Moldova and Ukraine we want to make as much progress as possible. We do have to work in consensus, and with all other countries to address concerns they may have, while at the same time supporting progress on the ground. Just because clusters have not opened, it does not mean the governments of Ukraine and Moldova cannot continue to make the reforms, whether in rule of law, civil areas and other areas, that need to happen, so that they are as ready as they can be. We will work to open as many of the clusters as we can, if not all of them, during our Presidency, and we will do that through consensus, working with all 26 member states and working closely with Moldova and Ukraine. In terms of what this means for them, it is absolutely essential. In terms of our overall security and sending a very clear message to Russia that we fully support Ukraine and that it is part of our community, this is an important step in the process as well.