Accession Conference with Ukraine - International ministerial meetings

14 juillet 2026

Minister Byrne outlines the results of the third EU‑Ukraine intergovernmental accession conference, announces the opening of cluster six on external relations, recalls the earlier opening of cluster one on fundamentals, and stresses Ukraine’s reform progress and resilience despite Russia’s war, underlining the Council’s commitment to advance accession in line with the enlargement methodology.

Accession Conference with Ukraine - International ministerial meetings

Name: Accession Conference with Ukraine - International ministerial meetings
Uploaded: 2026-07-14T06:59:55+00:00

00:23 - 00:44

Intervenant 1

Okay, good morning everyone and welcome to this press conference following the EU-Ukraine intergovernmental conference. We're joined by our Minister for State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Taras Kachka and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Martha Koss. I will first give the floor to Minister Byrne.

00:44 - 03:11

Intervenant 3

Thanks very much. Today we have shown the Union's commitment to the enlargement of the European Union. In the third accession conference with Ukraine, the Council opened cluster six on external relations. I am pleased to announce this important milestone for Ukraine's accession process together with the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Taras Kachka and Commissioner for EU enlargement Martha Koss. This is the second cluster that the European Union has opened with Ukraine, following the opening of cluster one on fundamentals in June.

I welcome this continued momentum on Ukraine's candidacy following a prolonged period without movement. Over the past number of years, despite Russia's ongoing war of aggression, remarkably, Ukraine has made significant progress and made a real effort to align their national legislation with EU acquis. Russia's illegal war is deadlier today than at any point since the full-scale invasion. We must acknowledge that and acknowledge the suffering, but this achievement of Ukraine in the enlargement process in the most challenging of circumstances is even more impressive. Today's conference demonstrates not only our commitment to Ukraine's accession process, but also Ukraine's commitment to their EU path, to our Union and to our values.

We commend the determination. The progress we are securing today also sends an important message to the citizens of Ukraine who are on the frontline for the European values of freedom, democracy and equality. Over the coming months we will work to continue to advance Ukraine's candidacy in line with the existing enlargement methodology and building on the technical work on frontloading successfully advanced by the Danish and Cyprus presidencies over the past year. In the meantime, we encourage you Taras and Ukraine to continue to implement necessary reforms, particularly in the area of fundamentals. Ukraine is an important member of the European family and we look forward to welcoming Ukraine and Ukraine's citizens to the European Union.

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