EU says Ukraine should be given candidate status to join bloc

Commission also recommends candidate status for Moldova but gives more guarded response to Georgia

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The European Commission has said Ukraine should be given candidate status to join the EU, in a show of confidence in the war-time government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a diplomatic blow to Vladimir Putin.

The EU executive also recommended candidate status for Moldova, another former Soviet state that launched an EU membership bid soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it gave a more guarded response to Georgia, saying the country needed to carry out further anti-corruption and judicial reforms.