European Union nations have agreed to start the lengthy process of examining bids to join the 27-nation bloc submitted by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the wake of Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor, diplomats said on Monday.
The ex-Soviet states last week rushed in highly symbolic applications to join the bloc after the Kremlin launched its attack on Ukraine.
The move by the 27 member states is the first step in the bloc's notoriously complex process for deciding whether to allow new members to join, which can drag on for years.
Ukraine has pleaded with the bloc to be granted a fast track to membership as it faces an onslaught from Moscow's forces.
While Kyiv has won backing from a number of EU nations to become a candidate, others are reluctant to commit to opening up a clear path for the war-shattered country.
EU leader Charles Michel on Monday said bloc's leaders will discuss Ukraine's membership application in the coming days.
"The EU's solidarity, friendship and unprecedented assistance for Ukraine are unwavering. We will discuss Ukraine's membership application in coming days," Michel said in a tweet.
EU ambassadors agreed to ask the bloc's executive to present an "opinion" on the applications from the three countries, said French officials, who hold the EU's rotating presidency, cited by the by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The executive can take years to render its opinion and after that, the member states have to agree unanimously to let the applicant formally become a "candidate."
That then kickstarts a process of painstaking reforms and negotiations that usually takes at least a decade to complete.
EU leaders are scheduled to discuss the war in Ukraine and the country's bid to join the EU at an informal summit in Paris on Thursday.
The bid for membership carries major symbolic weight for Ukrainians as Moscow tries to drag the country back into its sphere of influence.
A decision in 2013 by Ukraine's then-leader to reject closer ties with the bloc unleashed pro-EU protests that set in train a spiral of events leading to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the confrontation with the Kremlin.