The European Commission has praised Ukraine for maintaining strong momentum on its path toward EU membership despite Russia’s ongoing full-scale war, while warning that Kyiv must accelerate reforms to meet its goal of joining the bloc by 2028.
In its annual EU enlargement report card published Tuesday, the European Commission said Ukraine has “successfully completed the screening process and advanced on key reforms,” highlighting progress on the rule of law, public administration and the functioning of democratic institutions.
It also commended Ukraine for adopting an action plan on national minorities, which Brussels assessed positively.
“Despite Russia’s unrelenting war of aggression, Ukraine remains strongly committed to its EU accession path,” the report said.
“The Commission expects Ukraine to meet the conditions to open the remaining three clusters and works to ensure that the Council is in a position to take forward the opening of all clusters before the end of the year.”
According to the report, Ukraine has already met the conditions to open Cluster 1 (Fundamentals), Cluster 2 (Internal Market), and Cluster 6 (External Relations).
The Ukrainian government has set an ambitious target of provisionally closing accession negotiations by the end of 2028, a goal the Commission said it “supports” but considers achievable only if the pace of reforms increases, “notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law.”
Concerns over rule of law, anti-corruption
As reported by Euronews, the commission’s findings were largely positive but tempered by warnings about “negative trends” in Ukraine’s governance and judicial independence.
The report expressed concern about “undue pressure on anti-corruption agencies” and called for renewed efforts to safeguard the independence of institutions such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
In July, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, swiftly ratified a law that placed both NABU and SAPO under the direct oversight of the Prosecutor General, undermining their independence. The move, signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky, sparked protests in Ukraine and drew sharp criticism from Brussels.
Zelensky later reversed course, introducing a new bill to restore the agencies’ autonomy – a step that initially reassured the European Commission.
However, Tuesday’s cautionary tone suggests the EU is still closely monitoring developments to ensure Kyiv’s anti-corruption reforms stay on track, given their central importance to Ukraine’s EU bid.
Ukrainska Pravda noted that the commission avoided using the term “reversal of reforms” – a phrase considered politically sensitive in Kyiv – after criticism in July when Western partners raised alarms about potential threats to anti-corruption independence.
Nevertheless, Ukraine’s indicators remain positive, and the progress of reforms over the past year was rated higher than in the previous two years since Kyiv joined the enlargement package.
Ukraine Facility ties funding to reform progress
The Ukraine Facility, the EU’s main financial assistance program for Ukraine, links budget support to an ambitious reform agenda aimed at helping the country rebuild and move closer to EU membership.
According to the European Commission, the Facility has mobilized €31.3 billion ($35.9 billion) as of Oct. 1, including €22.7 billion ($26 billion) disbursed directly to Ukraine under its first pillar as budget support.
The accompanying Ukraine Plan, covering the years 2024-2027, outlines Kyiv’s reform and investment strategy for reconstruction, modernization and alignment with EU standards (the acquis).
The commission said that, despite wartime challenges, Ukraine has fulfilled 44 reform steps under the plan – including measures to strengthen anti-corruption capacity, improve corporate governance, enhance economic security, combat tax evasion, and adopt a national energy and climate plan.
The document notes that the plan was slightly amended in October 2025 to clarify timelines but that Ukraine’s overall commitments remain unchanged. Several reform steps – particularly those in the judicial sector – are still pending, the commission said.
Kyiv among top candidates in enlargement process
Ukraine was placed among four leading enlargement candidates – alongside Moldova, Albania and Montenegro – reflecting what Brussels described as “significant progress under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”
The EU remains committed to supporting Ukraine’s integration process and will work with the council to open all negotiation clusters before the end of 2025.