The European Commission will present its first oral assessment of Ukraine as a candidate country for membership of the European Union on Thursday, June 22, as part of an informal meeting of the European Council on General Issues, which will be held in Stockholm, the capital of the Swedish presidency of the EU.

Press secretary of the European Commission Ana Pisonero told Interfax-Ukraine in Brussels on Monday that the assessment will be presented by the relevant European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi.

“Commissioner Varhelyi will give an oral update to Council at the upcoming informal GAC on 22 June, but of course the focus will be on the comprehensive Enlargement report which the Commission expects to publish in autumn,” she said.

In accordance with the agenda of the meeting, an oral assessment will also be given to Moldova and Georgia.

As it is known, after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, on February 28, the country's leadership applied for EU membership and on June 23 of the same year, EU leaders decided to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership. At the same time, this decision is accompanied by seven reforms that Kyiv must implement in order to start accession negotiations. The European Commission will report to the Council on progress in implementing these reforms. In addition to Ukraine, Moldova received the candidate status. Georgia will receive candidate status only if the reforms outlined by the Council are implemented.