The European Commission recommended that member states grant Ukraine the status of a candidate country to join the European Union in a first step that must be approved by the 27 member states of the bloc before starting long negotiations.

The European Executive also gave a positive opinion on the candidacy of Moldova, another former Soviet republic. But Georgia still has to make reforms to get that status.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "The Commission recommends to the Council, firstly, to give Ukraine a European horizon, and secondly to grant it candidate status. This is, of course, provided that the country implements a number of important reforms."

"We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die to defend their European aspirations. We want them to live with us, for the European dream," von der Leyen added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the "historic decision."

"Grateful to Ursula von der Leyen and every member of the European Commission for the historic decision," he wrote on Twitter.

This opinion will be discussed at the European Summit on June 23-24, and the leaders of the EU27 must unanimously endorse it.

And Zelensky, who "expects a positive outcome" at this summit, said that "this is the first step on the path to joining the European Union and will certainly bring us closer to victory" over Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also hailed the decision as "a clear evidence of European leadership capacity" and "a huge boost to Ukraine's future transformations."

"European history is moving forward," he wrote on Twitter.

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the European Union of "manipulating" Kyiv. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, "We see how Western society has been manipulating for many years the idea of Ukraine participating in its integration structures (...) Since then, Ukraine has become worse," adding that Kyiv "will not have a bright future."

Never before has an opinion been issued in such a short time on a candidacy application, which is an emergency due to Russia's more than three-month-old war, and is part of the Europeans' support for Ukraine against Moscow.

Paris, Berlin and Rome backed Ukraine's "immediate" formalization of the candidate's status Thursday during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Zelensky stressed that Ukraine is "ready" to work on becoming a "full member state" of the European Union.

Kyiv submitted its candidacy in late February, shortly after the start of the invasion. Since then, Zelensky has never ceased to challenge the European Union to prove that "sayings about the Ukrainian people's belonging to the European family are not nonsense."

To become a candidate for EU membership, a country must fulfill a series of political (democracy, rule of law, protection of minorities), economic (viable market economy) criteria and a commitment to introducing the rules of European law.

Ukraine is essentially linked to the European Union by an association agreement that entered into force in September 2017.

The head of the European Commission, who has visited Ukraine twice, acknowledged that the country's authorities "have done a lot" to prepare for her candidacy, but said there was still "much to do," especially in terms of fighting corruption and respecting the rule of law.

Corruption is still rampant in Ukraine. In its 2021 report, the non-governmental organization Transparency International ranked the country 122 out of 180. This is better than it was in 2014 (142), but still far behind its European Union neighbors (the worst is Bulgaria at 78).

- 'Extremely sensitive' -

"This process is very sensitive for the European Commission because it cannot impose lower conditions on Ukraine than it has placed on other countries that have issued a positive opinion on it in the past," says Sebastien Mayard of the Jacques Delors Institute, noting that "its credibility requires maintaining high standards." 

The commission also approved Moldova's candidacy, in a move that President Maya Sandu praised as an "important moment" and "hope".

"This is an important moment for the future of the Republic of Moldova and the hope that our citizens need," she added in a message posted on Telegram. "We know the process will be difficult, but we are determined to follow this path," she said.

The Commission's opinion forms the basis for discussions at the summit of European Union leaders, which will be held on June 23-24 in Brussels.

The German chancellor admitted Thursday that it was necessary to "make all necessary efforts" to "reach consensus" on the candidacy of Ukraine and Moldova, while countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands expressed reservations. By tying candidate status to conditions that must be implemented, states can provide a margin for reaching consensus.

Recognition of the candidate country's status will mark the beginning of a long process with the Commission formulating a "pre-accession strategy," ie a program of support for the necessary integration reforms, accompanied by financial assistance. Opening formal negotiations again will require the unanimous consent of the 27 countries.

Five official candidates are Turkey (1999, the process is now frozen), North Macedonia (2005), Montenegro (2010), Serbia (2012) and Albania (2014).

Negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania have not started. Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency in May, said Kyiv's accession would take "decades."

Pending its accession, Macron proposed the creation of a European political group to receive countries wishing to join the European Union, an initiative that Ukraine received with suspicion.