Melike Pala
14 July 2026•Update: 14 July 2026
The European Union on Tuesday advanced accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania, holding four intergovernmental accession conferences in Brussels in what Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos described as a landmark day for the bloc's enlargement policy.
"Today it is really a Super Tuesday for enlargement. For more than two decades, we haven't had four accession conferences in one day," Kos told reporters ahead of the meetings.
Calling the four candidate countries "a lucky four-leaf clover for enlargement," she said each was taking another significant step toward EU membership.
For Ukraine and Moldova, the EU opened negotiations on Cluster 6, covering external relations.
The cluster includes Chapter 30 on external relations and Chapter 31 on foreign, security and defense policy, requiring candidate countries to align with the EU's trade, foreign and security policies, including sanctions, political declarations and defense cooperation.
The European Commission considers Ukraine ready to move further in the accession process, Kos added.
She noted that the opening of the remaining four negotiation clusters would depend on the rotating presidency of the European Council and the member states.
Commenting on the development, Ukrainian officials welcomed the opening of negotiations on Cluster 6, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha describing it as "another clear signal that Ukraine's path to the EU is steadily moving forward."
"I thank the @EU_Commission, @Ireland2026eu, and all EU Member States for their leadership and support in making this milestone possible... Ukraine remains fully committed to advancing reforms and achieving full alignment with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy," Sybiha wrote on US social media company X.
Separately, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry said the opening of accession negotiations on Cluster 6 mark "another important milestone" on Chisinau's European path.
"Every step forward brings Moldova closer to EU membership and to a safer, stronger and more prosperous future for our citizens," it said on X.
The EU also marked progress in the accession processes of the Western Balkan candidates.
Kos described the conference with Albania as "a watershed moment," saying the country had begun closing negotiating chapters for the first time.
She also highlighted Montenegro's progress, saying the "frontrunner" among candidate countries provisionally closed two additional chapters, bringing the total to 18 out of 33.
