EU Membership

Wednesday, 20 May 2026

Questions (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)

Emer Currie

Question:

13. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Ukraine's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38195/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

14. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Albania's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38196/26]

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15. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38197/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

16. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Georgia's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38198/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

17. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Kosovo's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38199/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

18. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Moldova's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38200/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

19. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Montenegro's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38201/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

20. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Serbia's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38202/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

21. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on North Macedonia's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38203/26]

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Emer Currie

Question:

22. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on Turkey's accession to EU membership; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38204/26]

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Written answers

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 22, inclusive, together.

Ireland is a strong supporter of merit-based EU enlargement, which will be a key priority of our EU Presidency. We believe that all candidate countries should join the EU once they have met the necessary accession criteria. In recent weeks, I have visited Kyiv where I discussed Ukraine’s candidacy with the country’s President and Foreign Minister, and I hosted the Foreign Minister of Kosovo in Dublin to discuss his country’s next steps. In the coming weeks, I will also welcome to Dublin the Foreign Ministers of some other candidate countries to Dublin in order to discuss their EU accession paths.

Ten countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine- currently hold candidate status or, as in the case of Kosovo, potential candidate status.

Montenegro is the most advanced candidate country in accession negotiations, with all 33 chapters opened and 14 provisionally closed. At the end of April, the Ad-Hoc Committee on Drafting Montenegro’s Accession Treaty, which Ireland will be chairing during our Presidency, was established. Ireland will seek to build upon this momentum during our Presidency and encourages Montenegro to implement the necessary reforms to align with all EU laws to allow them to close all remaining chapters by the end of our Presidency.

Albania is among the frontrunners in the EU accession process and has opened all six negotiating clusters. Albania is now required to meet interim benchmarks on the Rule of Law, which might be achieved before the end of Cyprus’ Presidency. This would allow Albania to start or continue to close negotiating chapters during our Presidency – a goal that Ireland strongly wishes to facilitate. We encourage Albania to continue aligning its national legislation with the EU acquis and implementing the necessary reforms.

Moldova applied for EU membership in 2022 and opened accession negotiations in 2024. Last year’s Enlargement report, issued by the European Commission, highlighted that Moldova had made the most one-year progress of all the candidates over the reporting period. Moldova is technically ready to open all six negotiating clusters and Ireland stands ready to formally advance Moldova’s candidacy during our Presidency.

Ukraine was granted EU candidate country status in June 2022, with negotiations opening in 2024. The European Commission’s 2025 Enlargement report detailed the reforms being implemented by Ukraine in order to adhere to EU standards. The European Commission has also confirmed that Ukraine has met the necessary standards in order to open all negotiating clusters.

In January 2025 the Hungarian government led by Victor Orbán introduced a block on the candidacies of Moldova and Ukraine. This led to the “frontloading” of technical work on the candidacies which allowed the European Commission and Member States to informally review technical progress made by Ukraine and Moldova across all six negotiating clusters pending the lifting of Hungary’s veto. It is hoped that the new Hungarian government will adopt a different approach in the coming weeks, and that Ukraine and Moldova will open all negotiating clusters under the Cypriot and Irish Presidencies.

Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009 and opened accession negotiations in 2014. While European integration is Serbia’s declared strategic goal, it has yet to reach full alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and is also required to further bring its national legislation in line with the EU’s Rule of Law standards.

Bosnia and Herzegovina applied for EU membership in 2016 and was granted EU candidate status in December 2022. In order to advance on its EU accession path, Bosnia and Herzegovina is required to implement necessary reforms to adopt its negotiating framework, including the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council and the Law on Courts in line with EU standards. Bosnia and Herzegovina is also expected to appoint a Chief Negotiator. Ireland strongly encourages Bosnia and Herzegovina to take these steps without further delay.

North Macedonia applied for EU membership in 2004 and opened accession negotiations in 2022. In order to advance in its accession process, North Macedonia must amend its Constitution to include a reference to minorities living in the country, as agreed in 2022. Ireland stands ready to formally advance North Macedonia’s accession process once the necessary reforms are implemented.

Kosovo submitted its application for EU membership in 2022. Ireland will continue to support Kosovo’s efforts towards EU membership and urge it to align with all necessary criteria to advance. On 5 May, I met with the Foreign Minister of Kosovo in Dublin for detailed discussions on prospects for Kosovo to move forward on its EU accession path.

Accession negotiations with Türkiye remain at a standstill since 2018. The EU continues to advance relations with Türkiye in a phased, proportionate and reversible manner, engaging on shared priorities.

Georgia applied for EU membership in 2022. In 2024, the leader of the Georgian Dream party was nominated as Prime Minister and declared that Georgia’s path toward EU membership was suspended until 2028. The European Commission currently considers Georgia as a candidate country in “name only”.

Ireland is also providing technical support to candidate and potential candidate countries to strengthen their administrative and institutional capacity. Last year, my Department, through the EU Enlargement and Fundamental Values Fund, launched the “Ireland for EU Enlargement” capacity-building programme which supports candidate and potential candidate countries engaged in the EU accession process. Officials from Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, and Moldova participated in the 2025 programme. This year, the programme has been expanded to invite officials from all six Western Balkan countries, as well as Ukraine and Moldova. They will visit Ireland in early June and will carry out a wide-ranging programme of meetings with relevant Irish public sector organisations. Additionally, later this month, in cooperation with the German Development Agency, we will host more than a dozen senior foreign ministry officials from the six Western Balkans countries for meetings with a range of senior Irish civil servants on various aspects of EU policies.

Ireland will maintain full support to all candidate and potential candidate countries on their EU accession paths, provided that the necessary reforms are implemented, particularly in the areas of the Rule of Law, the Judiciary and Fundamental Values. All of these countries are aware of the strong political commitment in Ireland for EU enlargement, in the interests of economic stability and greater security.

Question No. 14 answered with Question No. 13.

Question No. 15 answered with Question No. 13.

Question No. 16 answered with Question No. 13.

Question No. 17 answered with Question No. 13.

Question No. 18 answered with Question No. 13.