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"I
kicked off the Spanish presidency with a trip to Kyiv and I hope
to close it with the opening of accession negotiations with this
country, now that the European Commission's report is known,"
Sanchez told a plenary session of the European Parliament.
On Nov. 8, the EU's executive body recommended that Kyiv be
invited to begin membership talks as soon as it meets final
remaining conditions related to reining in corruption, adopting
a law on lobbying in line with EU standards and strengthening
national minority safeguards.
Sanchez added that "the time has come for the EU to open its
doors and integrate Ukraine, and also Moldova and the countries
of the West Balkans".
EU countries are set to meet on Thursday and Friday for a summit
to discuss Ukraine's membership bid, as well as the bloc's
potential expansion to include Georgia, Moldova and western
Balkans nations such as Montenegro.
On Monday, Hungary said it would not bow to pressure from other
EU members to give the green light for accession talks with
Ukraine, setting the stage for a showdown at the summit.
The final decision - as well as another on what would be the
EU's 12th package of sanctions against Russia since Moscow's
full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - requires the
unanimous backing of all the bloc's 27 countries.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo; Writing by David
Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
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