Russian President Vladimir Putin | Photo: EFE/JOÉDSON ALVES
The Kremlin this Friday (15) classified the European Council's decision to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova as “politicized” and warned that it could “destabilize” the European Union (EU).
“Of course, this is an absolutely politicized decision,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at his daily telephone press conference.
The European Council decided on Thursday (14) to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, to grant Georgia candidate country status and to start negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina “as soon as the required level of compliance with the accession criteria has been achieved”. .
According to Peskov, the EU has always had “strict criteria” for membership and currently “neither Ukraine nor Moldova meet them.”
“Without a doubt, these new members could actually destabilize the EU,” he added, although Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has already assumed that Ukraine’s entry into the union does not pose a threat to Moscow.
According to Peskov, EU decisions are often “largely based on the desire to cause even more unrest for Russia,” which in this case leads to antagonism between Moscow and former Soviet republics with European ambitions.
The Ukrainian government, opposition and civil society on Thursday celebrated the European Council's decision to open accession negotiations with Kiev as a victory for those fighting for Ukraine's independence and democratic future.
Moldova, in turn, welcomed the “new page” of its history and defended an “even stronger and more united” Europe with Chisinau and Kiev.
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