{"id":1391481,"date":"2026-06-20T01:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/?p=1391481"},"modified":"2026-06-19T00:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:14:38","slug":"ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s EU accession will take time, but the first step has been made \u2014 Merz"},"content":{"rendered":" <p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the opening of the first negotiating cluster in Ukraine\u2019s European Union accession process, saying that while membership will be a lengthy process, the first step has already been taken.<\/p>\n   <p>Speaking ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, Merz praised the decision to launch the first cluster of accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UATV English<\/a>\u00a0reports.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cI am very grateful that decisions have already been taken this week and that the European Commission has opened the so-called Cluster 1 for negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. These are clear steps toward the enlargement of the European Union,\u201d Merz said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p>According to the German chancellor, Ukraine\u2019s path to EU membership is a long-term endeavor.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cWe all know that this will take a long time, but the first steps have to be made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p>Merz added that EU enlargement would be one of the key topics discussed during the summit.<\/p>\n    <blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cWe will talk about the enlargement of the European Union. You know that Emmanuel Macron and I have launched an initiative on this issue,\u201d the German leader said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n   <p>He stressed that the matters on the European Council agenda would be decisive for the future of the European Union.<\/p>\n   <p>On June 15, Ukraine officially opened the first accession negotiating cluster, Fundamentals, during a conference in Luxembourg. The cluster covers key reforms related to the rule of law, democratic institutions, public administration, and economic criteria, and will remain open until the completion of the accession process, determining the overall pace of Ukraine\u2019s integration into the bloc.<\/p>\n   <p>Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the remaining five negotiating clusters could be opened in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the opening of the first negotiating cluster &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":1320092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,49,36418,36415],"tags":[78,72926],"sources":[],"class_list":["post-1391481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-news-en","category-11473-news-en-2","category-11473-news-en","tag-homepage-en","tag-ukraine-s-allies-aid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ukraine\u2019s EU accession will take time, but the first step has been made \u2014 Merz - Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukraine\u2019s EU accession will take time, but the first step has been made \u2014 Merz - Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed the opening of the first negotiating cluster ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T22:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/591-820x473.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0428\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0428\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u0410\u043d\u0442\u043e\u043d \u0428\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ec05b64cb7957f2edee871ad21ea2da9\"},\"headline\":\"Ukraine\u2019s EU accession will take time, but the first step has been made \u2014 Merz\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T22:03:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/\"},\"wordCount\":293,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/ukraine-s-eu-accession-will-take-time-but-the-first-step-has-been-made-merz\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/591.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"\u041d\u0430 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u044e (\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0435\u0440)\",\"Ukraine\u2019s Allies &amp; 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