The European Union on Friday after the summit with Ukraine in Kiev avoided setting deadlines for the opening of accession negotiations with the bloc, despite the insistence of President Volodimir Zelenski to speed up the entry process to take this step «as soon as possible».
This has been reflected in the press conference after the meeting, in which Zelenski has set as a goal, in front of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the opening of negotiations this year. «We have already started preparations and are awaiting the respective decisions of the Commission and the Council. The goal is to start negotiations this year, it is not a purpose but the most important goal,» the Ukrainian head of state stressed.
Contrary to Zelensky’s impetus, the EU leaders pointed out that the EU accession process is based on the merits of the candidates themselves, so there is no fixed timetable. «There are no set deadlines, but goals to be achieved. Reforms to improve the situation in the candidate country in order to then open accession negotiations and achieve EU membership,» Von der Leyen assured at the press conference.
For his part, Michel praised the «political will» of Ukraine to make progress in the European reforms but insisted that it is necessary to wait for the evaluation report of the European Commission for after the summer. As he pointed out, «by the end of the year» the European Council will be able to address the next steps in Ukraine’s accession. «We will have to study the report and take unanimous decisions,» he said.
This same balance is reflected in the joint statement agreed by Brussels and Kiev which stresses the European commitment to further integration of Ukraine, but makes it clear that the bloc will decide on the next steps «once all the conditions specified in the Commission’s opinion are fully met».
On Ukraine’s claims, the document states that Ukraine «underlined its determination to meet the necessary requirements to start accession negotiations as soon as possible».
In any case, the 24th EU-Ukraine summit is of historic significance as it is being held for the first time in a country at war and serves to send a political message to Russia at the height of the fighting in the Donbas region. On the eve of the summit, a meeting took place between some fifteen European commissioners and the Ukrainian government, another show of support for Ukraine.
The meeting served to reinforce Ukraine’s participation in European programs, thus seeking to facilitate its integration into the single market, while awaiting the long road that its accession to the bloc represents. The roadmap focuses on trade and economic measures, customs, recognition of industrial products and telecommunications, which, together with Ukraine’s participation in fiscal, digital and research programs, aims at further integration into the European economy and facilitating its alignment with the acquis communautaire.
NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA In this context, the European leaders have promised to reinforce the pressure against Russia and to the announcement this Thursday of Von der Leyen that the new round of sanctions will be ready for the anniversary of the war, next February 24, the president of the European Council has defended that the EU will do «more» to torpedo the «Russian war machine».
On this front, Zelenski pointed to the expectations that the new round of restrictions will hit the Russian military industry’s capacity to produce missiles, as well as punish the nuclear sector, at which point he mentioned Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation.
In a conversation with journalists in Brussels prior to the trip to Ukraine, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, referred to this new round of sanctions, assuring that the EU is studying restrictions to cut all technological links between Russia and the West, in such a way that its capacity to exploit natural resources and manufacture weapons could be reduced.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
