Lithuania's Nauseda proposes 2030 as Ukraine's EU accession date

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda proposed on Feb. 24 setting Jan. 1, 2030, as the official date for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

Speaking at the Support Ukraine summit in Kyiv, Nauseda called for decisive leadership to accelerate Ukraine's integration.

"The security of Europe depends on the security of Ukraine. That is why let us accelerate Ukraine's accession to the EU," Nauseda said.

He added that the first cluster of accession talks could be opened in the coming weeks and urged European leaders to make Ukraine's path to the bloc "inevitable."

Ukraine applied for EU membership in 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The country achieved candidate status within months, and formal negotiations began in June 2024.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has set an ambitious goal of opening five or six negotiation clusters in 2025, with the first phase expected under Poland's rotating EU presidency.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi previously suggested that Ukraine could join the bloc by 2029 if it successfully implements the necessary reforms.

Ukraine's EU accession process is structured around six negotiation clusters, covering various political and economic reforms.

The country aims to open at least two or three clusters in early 2025, with additional progress expected under Denmark's EU Council presidency in the latter half of the year.