Speaking after a meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, visiting Lithuania, President Gitanas Nausėda said the European Union’s expansion is a crucial geopolitical instrument for ensuring peace and security across the continent.
Speaking after a meeting with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, visiting Lithuania, President Gitanas Nausėda said the European Union’s expansion is a crucial geopolitical instrument for ensuring peace and security across the continent.
According to the president, the enlargement process must remain consistent and merit-based, with each candidate country’s progress assessed individually.
He also stressed the importance of setting a clear target date for Ukraine’s EU membership, proposing 2030. Lithuania, he said, is calling for accelerated negotiations and an immediate move towards political decisions.
Commenting on other candidate countries, Nausėda said Lithuania supports the European Commission’s assessments of Montenegro and Albania, while also urging North Macedonia to continue implementing its commitments.
Currently, ten countries are seeking to join the bloc, although some, such as Turkey, have effectively paused their progress. Montenegro and Albania are the Balkan states closest to accession.
Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, who also met Commissioner Kos, underlined that Ukraine and Moldova are currently at the forefront of the enlargement process, and that their progress towards EU membership must be clearly endorsed by the Union.
“Ukraine’s membership in the EU is essential for European security. It is also part of the security guarantees provided to Ukraine,” Budrys said, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
He added that the EU must send clear and consistent signals regarding Ukraine’s integration, allowing Ukrainians to see a tangible path to membership and encouraging them to continue implementing necessary reforms effectively.
Budrys also noted that EU enlargement will be a central priority of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2027.
BNS has reported that Brussels wants Ukraine and Moldova to receive approval for formal negotiations on EU accession this year, but Hungary’s pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is delaying consideration of Kyiv’s candidacy.
EU accession involves years of detailed negotiations and substantial reforms, and political obstacles in existing member states can still block progress.
Montenegro aims to complete negotiations by the end of 2026, Albania by 2027, and Ukraine and Moldova by 2028.
Even if a candidate country meets all requirements, joining the EU still requires the unanimous support of current member states.
Georgia also sought accession but the EU has effectively frozen its application due to a change in Tbilisi’s political direction.
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