In a strong show of support for Kyiv as it fights to repel invading Russian troops, the European Commission has recommended opening EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, while it also recommended opening talks with Moldova once it meets final conditions.
Georgia, the conmmission added in a statement on November 8, was recommended to be granted formal candidate status if and when it fulfils remaining conditions set out by the bloc.
"We’ve adopted our 2023 Enlargement Package recommending to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, to grant candidate status to Georgia, and to open accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina, once the necessary degree of compliance is achieved," the commission said.
"Completing our union is the natural horizon," it added.
The proposals, which came out in annual progress reports, are aimed mostly at providing technical guidance to the 27 EU member states on progress being made by countries as they look to align their laws and standards with those of the bloc.
EU leaders will comb through the reports in the coming weeks and are expected to decide whether to endorse the recommendations at a summit in Brussels on December 14-15.
WATCH: RFE/RL Europe editor Rikard Jozwiak explains what the commission's recommendations mean for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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Explainer: What Is The European Commission's Annual Enlargement Package About?
They are not bound to follow the recommendations and there is no guarantee that they will agree unanimously to do so, especially with Hungary and Slovakia voicing some hesitiation in Ukraine's aspirations to join the world's largest trading bloc.
The release of the commission's long-awaited annual enlargement report has been postponed several times since early October as EU member states feared it could "hijack" discussions on other issues such as the bloc's budget and migration before a summit in Brussels that was held on October 26-27.
It was also held up as the commission looked to give time to many countries to fulfill certain conditions and reforms that Brussels has set for the EU hopefuls.
In its recommendation on Ukraine, the commission lauded Ukraine on its progress amid a war with Russia, though it said some shortfalls in the membership process should be addressed.
"Ukraine continues to face tremendous hardship and tragedy provoked by Russia's war of aggression," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"And yet, the Ukrainians are deeply reforming their country, even as they are fighting a war that is existential for them."
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the decision for Ukraine, which has told Brussels that an accelerated process was warranted given Moscow's full-scale invasion. Ukraine was granted candidate status in June last year.
"Today, the history of Ukraine and the whole of Europe has taken the right step," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
"Our country has to be in the European Union."
Ihor Zhovkva, an adviser to Zelenskiy, said Ukraine is aiming for negotiations to start in early 2024.
"We will fulfill 100 percent of the conditions for the start of negotiations...by the middle of December this year," Zhovkva told RFE/RL, adding that this would clear the way for Kyiv to "obtain an absolutely clean political decision on the start of negotiations."
Neighboring Moldova received a similar message from Brussels.
"Moldova has progressed steadily on meeting the 9 steps set out in its membership application, including comprehensive reforms on justice, anti-corruption, and public administration," the commission said.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu praised the EU report saying her country is "firmly on the path for EU membership."
"We've got a lot of work to do as the path we've chosen is full of challenges. Work does not scare us and our goal is for Moldova to be ready to join the EU by 2030," Sandu wrote on Facebook.
Georgia, meanwhile, was given the recommendation of receiving candidate status as it "has taken steps to strengthen engagement with the EU and increased pace of reforms in the recent months to address the 12 priorities identified in its membership application."
"I rejoice with the people of Georgia and welcome the positive recommendation of the EU Commission to grant the candidate status," Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
SEE ALSO: The EU's Chief Rabble-Rouser, Viktor Orban, Is Now Georgia's Strongest AllyIn what was seen by analysts as a more difficult situation, Bosnia was given the green light to begin accession talks, "but, further efforts are needed to adopt rule of law and preserve the constitutional order of the country."
"We will recommend the opening of accession negotiations once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved," said the Brussels-based EU executive.