Bloomberg reports that Portugal is actively lobbying for Ukraine’s EU membership, with Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel urging immediate preparations during the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy on 7 September.
“We are very engaged in the enlargement process,” Rangel stated. “We need to prepare to receive Ukraine in the EU when that’s possible,” he added, highlighting that this process “will require a financial and institutional reform that we should take care of immediately.”
Current members (27) Candidates negotiating (6) Candidates (2) Applicant / Potential candidate (1) Candidate with frozen negotiations (1). Map: Wikimedia Commons/Giorgi Balakhadze.
There are currently nine recognized EU membership candidates: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine. Kosovo, not recognized by five EU members, is considered a potential candidate. Negotiations are active with six candidates: Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Moldova, and Ukraine, while talks with Türkiye have stalled since 2016.
FM Rangel commented on the recent developments, saying,
“Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has clearly changed the perception of the balance of the war.”
He also called for negotiations towards a peace process, reiterating the EU’s stance that any talks about ending the conflict should be led by the government in Kyiv. At the same event, Zelenskyy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed to work towards organizing a conference next year, focusing on Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
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