Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky called for the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union (EU) in 2023. He published his proposal on Tuesday, February 28, on his Twitter page.
“Ukraine has always been Europe. Ukraine will always be Europe. A year ago, Ukraine applied for membership in the European Union and received candidate status. This year, the time has come to make a decision to start membership negotiations,” Zelensky wrote.
Earlier, on February 24, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, in an interview with the El Confidential newspaper, expressed confidence that Ukraine would join the European Union in the next two years, as it completes the implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission.
On February 19, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that Ukraine had already become a member of the European family, it only remained to “institutionalize this decision.”
Earlier, on February 13, the Financial Times pointed to the dissatisfaction of a number of EU countries because of Ukraine’s expectation of an early entry into its composition. The publication noted that some EU governments have privately criticized Ukrainian politicians for expecting a quick completion of the process, and the leadership of the union for encouraging these hopes.
On February 3, the head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, pointed out the absence of strict deadlines for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. She stressed that everything will depend on the level of preparation of the country for this step.
Commenting on this statement, Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov doubted the possibility of an accelerated process of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. He noted that even the formulation of this issue causes controversy within the community.
Zelensky signed an application for the country’s accession to the EU on February 28, 2022. In April, Kyiv submitted to the European Union the completed second part of the questionnaire for obtaining the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union, and in June the European Council agreed on the status of candidates for Ukraine and Moldova.
In December, it was reported that the Verkhovna Rada adopted all the bills that are necessary for the country to implement the recommendations of the European Commission to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for joining the European Union.
