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Opinion on Ukraine’s application to EU ready next week: von der Leyen

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU executive’s opinion on Ukraine’s request to join the European Union would be ready by the end of next week. On Saturday, she visited Kyiv today and met with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the second time since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

In a joint news conference, Ms von der Leyen said discussions with Zelenskiy “will enable us to finalise our assessment by the end of next week,” about whether to recommend Ukraine as a candidate for membership. The move, whose timing was widely expected, would only be a preliminary step in a long process.

She reiterated, however, that, despite progress on administrative reforms and elsewhere, much still needed to be done.

“You have done a lot in strengthening the rule of law but there is still a need for reforms to be implemented, to fight corruption for example,” she said.

At the joint news conference, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “All of Europe is a target for Russia, and Ukraine is just the first stage in this aggression. This is why a positive EU response to the Ukrainian application for membership can be a positive answer to the question of whether the European project has a future at all.”

“I am deeply moved by the strength and bravery of the Ukrainian nation. There’s still a war going on in Ukraine, but I already see people coming back to Kyiv, rebuilding the bridges, clearing the rubble. I am sure that we survive this brutal, unjustified aggression and the Ukrainian nation would rebuild and modernise its beautiful country,” von der Leyen said.

She added that she appreciated Ukraine’s determination to enter the EU and pointed out that the path towards membership is well defined and based on specific factors. She also praised the Ukrainian administration which functions well despite the war.

All 27 EU governments would have to agree to grant Ukraine candidate status, after which there would be extensive talks on the reforms required before Kyiv could be considered for
membership.

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