She told about this on the air of the “Espresso” TV channel
“Now we are not talking about any concessions for the sake of Ukraine’s membership in the EU. On the contrary, we understand that for all EU countries, not only neighboring ones, we must demonstrate the ability to be part of a larger Europe. We must become a country that can find consensus in complex situations, defending their own interests,” Stefanishyna emphasized.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that Ukraine can receive positive decisions on the opening of negotiations for joining the EU already in December.
“We feel very confident, fulfilling all the EU’s requirements for membership. We have a lot of support on this issue of national minorities, including the Hungarian one. However, I do not want to focus on Hungary. I just want to emphasize that this process is being improved. From tomorrow , after the decision of the European Commission, our priority is to work with the EU countries. After all, today’s decision laid a very solid basis for the vast majority of EU countries to form a positive decision regarding the opening of negotiations already in December,” she added.
What is known about Ukraine’s accession to the EU
On February 28, 2022, Ukraine applied to the European Union for immediate accession under a special procedure. On June 23, 2022, Ukraine received the status of a candidate for EU membership.
In May, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine should be ready to join the European Union in two years – the country expects to receive a political decision on the start of accession negotiations already this year.
On August 7, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said that Ukraine will not be able to implement all 7 EU recommendations by October, because these are changes that have been in place for years.
On September 8, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stated that it is important that negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU begin before the end of this year.
Also, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said that Kyiv is negotiating EU accession with Hungary and Romania, which express reservations about the rights of their ethnic minorities in our country.
The media reports that Ukraine will receive a recommendation to start negotiations on November 8, but additional conditions will be put forward. And on December 14-15, the EU summit will decide whether to start membership negotiations with Ukraine.
On October 26, Stefanyshyn expressed her confidence that Ukraine will be able to reach a good political decision on joining the EU in December.
On October 28, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the leaders of the European Union, calling for unity in the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
On October 31, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba assured that Ukraine will start negotiations on joining the EU this year, if there are no force majeure events.
On November 4, Zelenskyi said that Ukraine is not asking for “concessions” on the way to membership in the European Union.
The day before, Radio Svoboda’s Europe editor Rikard Yuzviak reported that the European Union will probably support the start of accession negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova and grant Georgia the status of a candidate for membership, but “with certain conditions.”
As of the beginning of November, the European Commission considers that four of the seven criteria that accompanied the granting of the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union to Ukraine have been fully fulfilled.
On Tuesday, November 8, the European Commission published a report in which it recorded Ukraine’s progress and recommended starting the process of negotiations on our country’s accession to the EU
Fuente: espreso.tv
