European Union leaders agreed on June 23 to accept Ukraine as a candidate to join the European Union, although it’s not clear whether the eastern European country will become one.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, confirmed that leaders had approved EU candidate status for not only Ukraine but also its neighbor, Moldova. The bloc hasn’t welcomed any new nations since Croatia in 2013.
EU candidate status doesn’t confer membership, which could be decades away, and it doesn’t mean that Ukraine is trying to join NATO—a separate, defense-oriented organization. However, Michel called the announcement a “historic moment” in light of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, which has raged since Feb. 24….