EU report on Ukraine expansion positive despite leak of ‘negative trends,’ EU sources say

Reuters had claimed the draft report stated Ukraine showed “impressive commitment” to EU integration but needed to reverse “negative trends” in corruption and speed up rule-of-law reforms. However, sources told European Pravda these phrases are not present in the version of the report agreed upon last week.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, also confirmed there are no such controversial wordings in the document. He told European Pravda that following a European Commission briefing, officials assured him the language cited by Reuters was not in the report, which is still being finalized for publication. The official release of the European Commission’s enlargement documents is scheduled for Nov. 4 in the afternoon.

According to Reuters, the Commission acknowledged Ukraine had launched important reforms but emphasized the need to strengthen judicial independence, combat organized crime more effectively, and uphold civil society support mechanisms.

European Pravda reported that several EU officials expressed surprise over Reuters’ leak, denying that the report described “negative trends” in Ukraine.

At the same time, the report does contain criticism of Ukraine’s anti-corruption performance during the summer. It notes that “excessive pressure on anti-corruption bodies remains a concern for the EU.”

Reuters previously reported that EU officials had raised concerns over a series of steps taken in July that increased the prosecutor general’s influence over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Still, the European Commission insists the report is “balanced” and confirms Ukraine is among four countries — along with Moldova, Albania, and Montenegro — making tangible progress toward EU membership. Albania and Montenegro are assessed as slightly ahead, European Pravda wrote.

Ukraine’s reform indicators, however, remain positive overall. According to the Commission’s assessment, Ukraine’s progress over the past year surpasses its combined achievements in the previous two years since joining the enlargement package.

The EU noted that over the past year, Ukraine demonstrated forward movement across all areas of negotiation. The level of progress by topic ranges from “limited” to “good.”

On Oct. 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had completed its internal legislative screening process to align with EU standards and was ready to begin talks on opening the first negotiating cluster.

On Sept. 29, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos confirmed the Commission had completed its review of Ukrainian legislation.

Back on Aug. 27, reports indicated that worsening tensions between Budapest and Kyiv had dimmed hopes that Hungary would lift its veto on opening accession talks. Lithuania has since proposed finding a workaround to bypass the Hungarian blockade and move negotiations forward.