EU starts membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova

On 15 June 2026, the EU opened its first negotiating cluster in membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova, at a meeting in Luxembourg, according to Tagesschau. Euronews called the day 'Mega Monday' for enlargement, and Deutsche Welle wrote that formal talks started after Orban's delay. Zelensky said 'progress cannot be stopped'.

The Associated Press reported that Ukraine faces years of reforms while fighting Russia, and France 24 described a very long path to membership. Kurier wrote that Kyiv began its way into the EU under an air-raid alert. N1 reported that Montenegro closed two more chapters, and Frankfurter Allgemeine wrote that the G7 summit in Évian started.