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BRUSSELS, Belgium — Ukraine and the EU are launching a new task force composed of Ukrainian and EU officials that will begin meeting regularly to drive progress on key rule-of-law reforms, the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos announced on Oct. 16.
"Following the opening of two more negotiating clusters this week, I discussed the next steps with Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi," Kos posted on social media.
"We agreed to launch a joint Task Force to accelerate progress on the interim benchmarks and advance essential rule of law and anti-corruption reforms. This step shows our commitment to supporting Ukraine's path to EU membership," she added.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also mentioned in his address to EU leaders that the task force had been established the day before.
"Our goal is to get a positive assessment ... as soon as possible," Zelensky said, with "a team that can work on joint decisions and concrete steps to move things forward."
The task force will involve regular meetings between Ukrainian and European Commission officials, who will work through rule-of-law reforms pragmatically, with documents on the table.
Those reforms also come under so-called "interim benchmarks," which, after Ukraine opens all six negotiating clusters — expected by the end of 2026 — will be the next thing to do on its EU membership to-do list.
"Ukraine will continue to actively pursue reforms," Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said.