EU sets date to decide on candidate status for Ukraine

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg (France) on May 9, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said that the future of Europe is also Ukraine’s, emphasizing “next page” in the history of the bloc will be written by Ukrainians.

On the anniversary of “Europe Day” (May 9), Ursula von der Leyen said, “we discussed EU support and Ukraine’s path in Europe. Looking forward to receiving answers to EU membership questionnaire from Ukraine. EC will give its opinion on this issue in June”.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron, who was also present at the European Parliament session, warned Kiev not to expect quick accession to the bloc.

“Even if we hand them out as candidates tomorrow… we know full well that the process of getting them on board will take years… decades.”said Mr. Emmanuel Macron.

In early May, Austria’s EU Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler expressed a similar view, saying that Ukraine’s accession to the EU is unlikely. “in the next 5 to 10 years”.

President Macron opposes the idea of ​​the bloc lowering its standards “strictly” just to allow certain countries to join sooner. Instead, he proposed setting up a different format for countries wishing to join the EU.

According to Mr. Macron, this format of a new organization will allow European countries to cooperate in the fields of politics, security, energy, transport, investment and infrastructure… he established. argues that the EU cannot remain the only European organization “with its level of integration and ambition”.

Ukraine submitted the first part of the questionnaire in mid-April. At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, Kiev had submitted a 5,000-page document to the EU.

When evaluating a candidate’s candidacy for membership, the EC evaluates everything from the country’s economic performance to the legal system, along with environmental, agricultural and regulatory regulations. This process can take years, Turkey has been a candidate since 1999.

In addition, a country will only receive full membership if there is consensus of the EU member states.