Europe ministers are meeting in Copenhagen today and tomorrow to discuss pressing EU affairs, notably related to Ukraine, after a summer marked by Trump meeting Putin.
Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne TD, will be in Denmark for the ministerial dinner this evening ahead of the informal meeting of ministers from across the EU tomorrow.
Ministers from EU candidate countries including Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey and the Balkans will also attend.
The Danish government have dubbed the meeting “From Copenhagen to Copenhagen to Copenhagen” a nod to Denmark’s role over the decades for reaching agreements on EU enlargement.
In 1993, EU heads of states agreed the so-called Copenhagen Criteria during a meeting in the Danish capital.
The Copenhagen Criteria has become a blue print for the political, economic, and legal conditions a country must meet to join the European Union.
Much of the focus on EU accession at the moment is on Ukraine.
According to one senior EU official, Ukraine’s “Europen path” and future EU membership would likely be part of security guarantees made in any Russia-Ukraine peace agreement.
But other countries keen to join the EU don’t want to be left behind.
Back in July, Minister Byrne visited Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro to discuss their EU candidacies.
“During these visits, I listened to their progress, and their concerns, and outlined how Ireland will continue to champion enlargement as a force for transformational change, including during our upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of next year”, he said ahead of tomorrow’s meeting.
Thomas Byrne added that it was imortant to consider “how we can help them address the challenges that they face as they prepare to join our Union.”