'Historic': EU chose to be 'geopolitical actor' in granting Ukraine membership talks
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European Union leaders made a historic decision on Thursday to open membership talks with Ukraine, bypassing objections from Hungary to give Kyiv a major. political boost as its war against Russia's invasion grinds on. Although membership would likely be many years away, the decision at a summit in Brussels takes Ukraine a step closer to its long-term strategic goal of anchoring itself in the West and liberating itself from Moscow's orbit. The move came at a critical time for Ukraine, after its counter-offensive against Russian forces had failed to make major gains and with US President Joe Biden so far unable to get a $60 billion aid package for Kyiv through the U.S. Congress. The EU took the decision in a highly unorthodox fashion: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who cultivates close ties with Moscow, agreed to leave the room while his peers from the EU's 26 other members agreed the move. As the EU grants Ukraine membership talks in midst of war, bypassing Hungarian objections, FRANCE 24's Tom Burges Watson is joined by Anastasiya Shapochkina, Geopolitics Lecturer at Sciences Po and President and founder at Eastern Circles geoeconomics think tank.