Moldova outpaces Ukraine on new EU membership roadmap

Key Points:

• The European Commission's accession roadmaps indicate that both Ukraine and Moldova are expected to make progress toward EU membership next year, with Moldova outpacing Ukraine in implementing reforms.
• Moldova aims to conclude accession negotiations by early 2028, a timeline described by the Commission as "ambitious but achievable," while Ukraine targets the end of 2028 but needs to accelerate reforms.
• Moldova has made significant advances on rule of law reforms since launching its joint task force in July 2026, whereas Ukraine's task force began only in October and is expected to take around four months.
• The Commission projects Moldova will close 24 of the 33 accession chapters in 2027, compared to just seven chapters for Ukraine, highlighting Moldova's unprecedented rate of alignment.
• Despite slower reform progress in Ukraine over the past year, recent momentum has increased, with confidence in Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi's leadership and Ukraine surpassing other long-standing candidate countries like Serbia and North Macedonia.