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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently offered Ukraine an accelerated path to European Union membership, said on Sunday that “an important step forward” has been taken to ensure that Ukrainian soldiers who risk their lives, one day will live in a Ukraine free from Russian rule.
Her comments on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday came after von der Leyen recently visited Kyiv. The EU leader handed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a questionnaire, the answers to which will form the basis of a statement to be sent to the European Council this summer.
At a joint press conference, von der Leyen said the questionnaire was “the start of your journey into the European Union,” adding that this step “will not be a matter of years, as usual, but rather a matter of weeks.” according to the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
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Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper for her comments, von der Leyen, who appeared on a joint panel alongside Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, stressed that the normal process of joining the European Union took years would take time, but it was important to take an “extraordinary” step to shape the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine decimated by Russian forces.
“The most important thing for Ukraine is to decide for themselves what they want to do in the future and how they want to shape their country. And they want to join the European Union,” she said.
“This is usually a process that takes years. And yesterday we took an important step forward,” continued the EU leader. “It is this questionnaire that forms the basis of the information that we need to have in order to then form an opinion on whether I, as Commission President, can recommend candidate status to the so-called Council. So that sounds technical, but it’s a very important step forward.”
“Yesterday someone said to me: ‘You know, when our soldiers die, I want them to know that their children will be free and will be part of the European Union,'” von der Leyen said. “So there is a lot of hope in Ukraine that they – they are without question part of our European family. And that is why they are in an extraordinary situation that requires us to take unusual steps.”
Von der Leyen said the European Union had already allocated $17 billion in structural funds to accommodate around 4 million Ukrainian refugees who fled to neighboring countries including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Another 6.5 million Ukrainians are internally displaced and in urgent need of help from the Ukrainian authorities, she added.
“After this war, when Ukraine is rebuilt, when we help Ukraine to rebuild this country, it will be accompanied by reforms,” she said. “So it is an extraordinary way to shape the country and to go the way to the European Union. And we took an important step yesterday.”
“Yesterday I was able to deliver one billion euros directly to the Ukrainian government, but of course more has to come in,” she continued. “And we know that we have a long way to go here to fight Putin’s aggression, to defend Ukraine’s integrity and sovereignty, but also afterwards, after this war, when Ukraine will have won this war, Ukraine and this country rebuild. “
Evans announced that a recent Global Citizen fundraiser raised $10.1 billion in pledges, including $4.6 billion in cash, to support the people of Ukraine and displaced refugees are.
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Trudeau said Canada is providing investigative support to the International Criminal Court to try Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, including evidence suggesting Russian forces systematically targeted civilians and used sexual violence and rape after the Bucha massacre.
So far, Canada, which has the third largest Ukrainian population after Ukraine and Russia, has already taken in 14,000 Ukrainian refugees but is ready to take in more. Trudeau said many Ukrainian refugees have so far expressed a desire to stay geographically close to husbands and fathers who are still in Ukraine.