On the morning of the 16th of May, Clingendael Academy received a group of high-level officials from Ukraine. They are involved in negotiations and coordination of some of the most important legislative areas for Ukraine’s harmonisation of EU laws, including energy, agriculture, transport and digital affairs.

In two days, Clingendael guided the participants towards a comprehensive understanding of what EU accession entails.

They were brought up to speed on the fine prints of EU enlargement by professor Antoaneta Dimitrova. Previous EU-accession negotiators Milica Delevic from Serbia, and Marko Mrdak, Montenegro, shared their extensive experience.

Clingendael Director Monika Sie welcomed the participants, trainers Teun Janssen and Christiaan Nelisse discussed the political context and negotiation dynamics for Ukraine’s road to EU membership.

The second half of the training took place in June, where the participants acquired practical skills through an EU accession simulation, a session on EU interest representation for third countries, and a networking event with representatives of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The participants were actively engaged and highly motivated to work hard for an ambitious path towards European Union membership. Clingendael noticed their professionalism and awareness of political and technical trends.

This training was commissioned by the Ukrainian Diplomatic Academy and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs