OREANDA-NEWS  On the first day of the summit, the leaders of the EU countries made a number of, without exaggeration, historic decisions. Georgia has been granted the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union, and Moldova and Ukraine have risen to the next level — substantive negotiations on joining the bloc begin with them. The main intrigue was connected with Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban resisted the start of EU negotiations with Kiev until the last moment. Budapest argued that it was worth returning to this issue only "in five to ten years" - after developing a new strategy for relations with Ukraine. But in the end, European unity did not suffer. Kiev called Brussels' decision "a victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens."

"The European Council has decided to start negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their admission to the European Union," Charles Michel, chairman of the European Council, wrote on the social network X the main news following the first day of the two—day summit. In addition, he also pleased Georgia: It turned out that she had been granted the long—awaited status of a candidate country for joining the union.

Only Bosnia and Herzegovina was unlucky: As Charles Michel noted, the leaders of the EU countries have not yet given the go-ahead to negotiations on the republic's accession to the bloc.

"Ukraine's victory. The victory of the whole of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens," Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wrote on the social network. "The 27 leaders of the EU countries said yes to our country, they said yes to our European future,— Moldovan President Maia Sandu rejoiced at the news from Brussels.— This is a new page in our history. Two years ago, no one expected that in 2023 the European Commission would propose to start negotiations on Moldova's accession to the EU... We are Europeans, and the whole European Union has recognized this." Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also promptly offered congratulations, having previously stated that granting candidate status "will firmly link the future of Georgia with the family of European democracies."
Expectations from the two-day summit were raised in advance to the highest possible level. "The most important European Council is ahead of us. It's time to make decisions. I urge you all to come with a spirit of compromise, a sense of collective responsibility, with the interests and values of the union at the forefront," Charles Michel urged the leaders of the 27 EU member states in his invitation letter to the summit.