Volodymyr Zelenskyj is confident. The President of Ukraine hopes that his country will receive the status of a candidate for membership of the European Union “in the coming weeks”. Basically, our people have long been mentally in Europe. Despite everything, every country must follow this procedure, he explained at a press conference on Monday 18 April.
The President also on Monday sent EU Ambassador to Ukraine Matti Maasikas two voluminous files representing Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union. “It’s an honor to receive from @ZelenskyyUa the answers to the @European Commission questionnaire submitted by @vonderleyen just 10 days ago,” Ambassador Matti Maasikas commented in a message on his Twitter account.
Another step on Ukraine’s EU path. Honored to receive from @ZelenskyyUa the answers to it @EU_Commission Questionnaire presented by @vonderleyen just 10 days ago. Extraordinary times require extraordinary steps and extraordinary speed. @Denys_Shmyhal @StefanishynaO @AndriyYermak pic.twitter.com/UaNPOrhPST
— Matti Maasikas (@MattiMaasikas) April 18, 2022
Normally it “takes years” to get EU candidate status, but Brussels “really gave us the opportunity to start this process within a few weeks or months”. “We firmly believe that this procedure will be launched in the coming weeks,” said the President of Ukraine, who believes that this is “an important signal” of the friendship between Kyiv and Brussels. “We are confident that we will be supported in this work.” According to him, “Ukrainians are united behind this goal: to feel equal with other Europeans, to be part of the European Union”.
The European Commission must now verify whether Ukraine meets the criteria for EU membership and make a recommendation to the member states. In this respect, integration into the European Union is a long-term process to bring the legislation of the candidate country closer to European law. This requires complex negotiations on many issues and criteria that are difficult for a country at war to meet, such as political stability and a functioning market economy.
In addition, the unanimous approval of the 27 member countries is required. However, they disagree on the question of Ukraine’s future membership. Eight countries (Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) issued an open letter calling for talks to start on joining this former Soviet republic, which was occupied by Russia on February 24. But a third of member states, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain, are “more cautious”, according to a diplomatic source contacted by AFP.