The European Commission’s latest enlargement report heaped praise on Ukraine and Montenegro, whilst criticizing both Serbia and Georgia on Tuesday.
Brussels’ report is annual scorecard for countries that are hoping to join the European Union.
Ten countries are currently aiming to join the bloc — a list that also includes Moldova, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Turkey.
“Expanding the Union is in our best interest,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels.
“Joining the European Union remains a fair, tough and merit-based process. But now, new countries joining the European Union by 2030 is a realistic goal,” she added.
Ukraine’s ambitious roadmap possible, but changes needed
Despite continuing to face the challenges of Russia’s ongoing invasion and Hungary continuing to block formal progress in Ukraine’s membership negotiations, the Commission praised Kyiv’s commitment to accession.
While offering support to Ukraine’s ambitious timetable of joining by the end of 2028, having only applied for EU membership in 2022, the report stated a need to speed up reforms and crack down on corruption.
Noting “recent negative trends, including a pressure on the specialized anti-corruption agencies and civil society,” the report said those actions must be reversed.
Protests earlier this year against the crackdown on the anti-corruption units saw Kyiv quickly back down, but the incident caught the attention of Ukraine’s European allies.
“Continued progress is also required in reinforcing the independence, integrity, professionalism, and efficiency in the judiciary, prosecution and law enforcement sectors, as well as the fight against organized crime,” the report added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday renewed his call for Hungarian leader Viktor Orban to stop vetoing the Ukrainian EU bid.
“We are at war for our survival, and we would really like the prime minister of Hungary to support us, at least not block us,” Zelenskyy told an event hosted by broadcaster Euronews in Brussels.
Georgia ‘backsliding’ on democracy
Meanwhile, Georgia was called an accession country “in name only,” as serious concerns were raised over the legitimacy of democracy in the country.
Although there is widespread support within the country to join the European Union, the current government has moved closer to Moscow and cracked down on its opponents.
“In Georgia, the situation has sharply deteriorated, with serious democratic backsliding,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said.
The ruling Georgian Dream party froze EU accession talks while saying that Brussels was plotting a revolution in Georgia — a claim the EU strongly denies.
Furthermore, last week the speaker of Georgia’s parliament, a senior member of the ruling party, said the country’s three largest opposition parties would be banned for posing a threat to “the constitutional order.”
“The findings of the report are unfortunately devastating for Georgia’s European aspirations,” Pawel Herczynski, the EU ambassador to Georgia, told reporters in Tbilisi.
“Georgia is not on the trajectory to become an EU member state, neither in 2030 nor later.”
Montenegro named most advanced EU candidacy
Of all those seeking membership to the bloc, Montenegro, a Balkan country with a population of around 600,000, is the most advanced, according to Kos.
Montenegro is seeking to complete talks by the end of 2026 having started discussions in 2012.
“We are looking forward to becoming the first next member of the EU,” Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister Filip Ivanovic told a Euronews conference.
Speaking also of Albania’s intentions, who aim to finish discussions by the end of 2027, Kos said of the two countries: “They advanced most on reforms in the past year.”
“At the current pace and quality of reforms, we may be able to conclude accession negotiations in the coming years,” she added.
Actual accession, however, still requires approval and ratification by all EU member states.
“The commission will insist the highest quality of reforms, especially on the rule of law, democratic institutions, and fundamental freedoms. There will be no shortcuts,” Kos concluded.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
