Potential enlargement of the European Union

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic spoke on Monday with Danish Minister for European Affairs Marie Bjerre, who noted that future EU enlargement was important and that Denmark saw Serbia in the EU and that Serbia's EU membership would strengthen the bloc.

The EU commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement expressed optimism on Monday for advancing EU-Türkiye relations, stating a desire to "reenergize" bilateral ties with Türkiye.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting of European Union ministers in Brussels next week that Ankara hopes will pave the way for improved ties with the bloc, the ministry's spokesperson said on Thursday.

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to start accession talks with EU candidates Ukraine and Moldova while granting formal candidate status to Georgia.

Accession talks themselves could take a decade or longer. Below is a list of countries hoping to one day become members of the EU, and their formal status:

COUNTRIES WITH CANDIDATE COUNTRY STATUS

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on European Union leaders to refrain from making decisions on initiating negotiations for Ukraine's membership and withholding financial aid at next week's summit in Brussels. Orban's plea comes amidst the European Commission's proposal to consider Kyiv's readiness for negotiations, contingent on further obligations by March 2024.

Turkey on Dec. 25 welcomed the last-minute post-Brexit trade deal between the U.K. and EU.

"Turkey welcomes the deal reached in the negotiations on the future of post-Brexit relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Bulgaria on Friday reacted with annoyance after Czechia and Slovakia on Thursday blocked EU moves to meet its demands concerning North Macedonia's start of EU accesion talks.