Ukraine has fully completed its previous step towards EU membership - Kallas
Photo: Denys Shmyhal and Kaja Kallas (t.me/Denys_Smyhal)
The future of Ukraine is in the European Union, and it has already made an important step towards EU membership, stated EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Kallas noted significant progress in the screening process and confirmed that Ukraine has fully completed the previous step necessary for joining the EU. She emphasized that there would be no shortcuts or exceptions, and the approach would be the same as for all countries.
Furthermore, the EU's top diplomat praised Ukraine for making substantial progress in the reforms required by the EU, despite the ongoing war.
She reassured that Ukraine's future lies in the EU and that the EU would work together to make this a reality, looking forward to the day when Ukraine would be welcomed as a member.
In response, Prime Minister Shmyhal assured the EU representative that Ukraine is making every effort to increase the dynamics of European integration.
He expressed confidence that Ukraine could achieve significant progress in months, not years, and that the country would complete all the necessary "homework" to become a full EU member immediately after the war ends.
Shmyhal also added that Ukraine is waiting for an Intergovernmental Conference following the EU Council's decision to open Cluster 1, Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process. He stated that Ukraine expects all six clusters in the EU accession negotiations to be opened by 2025.
Ukraine's EU accession
Since the beginning of the full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine has made significant progress toward EU membership. In particular, last year, the leaders of the EU member states approved the initiation of accession negotiations with Ukraine.
However, in practice, the negotiations have not yet started. According to Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, the commencement of talks is being blocked by Hungary.
In early March, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that he intends to hold a referendum in Hungary on Ukraine’s EU membership, to find out the opinion of the Hungarian people.
Despite this, Ukraine aims to make progress in its EU accession talks this year. The country hopes to join the bloc immediately after the war ends.
Kyiv has called on the European Union to set a specific date for Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. It is necessary to secure the country’s membership in advance.
