The EU Commission will give its opinion ahead of a summit on 23-24 June where EU leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidate status.
The European Commission will meet on Friday to give its quick opinion on Ukraine’s candidacy for EU membership, a day after the bloc’s most powerful leaders visited Kyiv as it fought Russia’s invasion.
The opinion will serve as a basis for the debate at next week’s European Union summit, where leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidate status on strict terms, although it may take years to join. or even decades.
Never before has such a quick opinion been given on the EU candidacy, which must be approved by the 27 member states.
France, Germany, Italy and Romania are in favor of Ukraine receiving “immediate” candidate status, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday during an official visit to Kyiv.
Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in Ukraine by train and were joined by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. allies for support.
“The most important message of our visit is that Italy wants Ukraine in the EU,” Draghi told a joint news conference.
Scholz said Ukraine “belongs to the European family” and that Berlin will continue to send weapons to Kyiv “for as long as necessary.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was willing to work to become a member of the EU. He also called on EU states to help Kyiv meet its “essential defense needs.”
France announced that it would send six self-propelled shells to Caesar to add to the 12 already deployed on the eastern front of Ukraine. German Scholz has been repeatedly criticized for his cautious stance on handing over heavy weapons to Ukraine, before announcing in April that he would deliver anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Macron warned that Ukraine’s accession to the EU would be a long process and instead pushed for a “European political community” open to non-EU members, such as Ukraine. and the United Kingdom, who want to contribute to European security.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on her second trip to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s attack on Saturday, reminded Zelenskyy that much remains to be done.
“You have done a lot to strengthen the rule of law, but you still need to implement reforms, to fight corruption, for example,” he said at a joint news conference with the Ukrainian leader.
EU membership is a process that usually takes years and requires strict criteria, from economic stability to the elimination of corruption to respect for human rights.
Despite the reservations of some member states, EU leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidate status at a summit on June 23-24, albeit with harsh conditions.
Zelenskyy told von der Leyen during his visit that “the whole of Europe is a target for Russia, and Ukraine is only the first stage of this aggression.”
“That is why a positive response from the EU to Ukraine’s application for membership can be a positive answer to the question of whether the European project has a future,” he said.