The European Commission has backed Ukraine and Moldova to become candidates for EU membership, the president of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said at a press conference.
"We recommend giving Ukraine the candidate status, on the understanding that the country will carry out a number of important reforms.
"We also recommend granting Moldova the candidate status, on the understanding that the country will carry out reforms.
"Georgia must now come together politically to design a clear path towards structural reform and the EU. So we recommend granting the European perspective but to come back and assess how it meets a number of conditions before granting it candidate status," von der Leyen said.