During the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU countries in Brussels, Dmitry Kuleba noted that there is serious support for opening negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, but a final decision on this issue has not yet been made. He stressed that it is necessary to continue to fight and strive to achieve this goal.
According to Kuleba, the discussion about opening accession negotiations with Ukraine will continue directly at the leaders’ summit “until the last minute.”
“The general mood and general signal is an unprecedented level of support for the opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the EU. At the same time, the decision itself has not yet been made, and the struggle for this decision will continue not only in the coming days, but also during the meeting of the European Council. This is already obvious to everyone,” he noted.
However, Kuleba noted that the partners are amazed that Ukraine implemented all the recommendations within a month.
“Now the European Union must demonstrate its ability to stick to its word and ensure unity,” added Dmitry Kuleba.
The Foreign Minister noted that at the meeting, in particular, they discussed the possible consequences if the EU does not decide to start negotiations with Ukraine following the summit.
According to him, there were arguments from representatives of EU countries that this decision should be made not for Ukraine, but for the EU itself, and the absence of a decision will play against the European Union.
Kuleba is confident that this decision will still take place, because “you cannot stop the course of history.”
“And history moves very simply: Ukraine will be a member of the EU, it’s only a matter of time and price. And our task is to make the price as low as possible and the time as short as possible,” he concluded.
What is known about Ukraine’s accession to the EU
On February 28, 2022, Ukraine applied to the European Union regarding immediate accession through a special procedure. On June 23, 2022, Ukraine received candidate status for accession to the EU.
In May, Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said that Ukraine should be ready to join the European Union in two years - the country expects to receive a political decision to begin accession negotiations this year.
On August 7, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said that Ukraine would not be able to implement all 7 EU recommendations before October, because these are changes that have been introduced for years.
On September 8, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said: it is important that negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU begin before the end of this year.
Also, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said that Kyiv is negotiating accession to the EU with Hungary and Romania, which have expressed warnings regarding the rights of their ethnic minorities in our country.
Media reports that Ukraine will receive a recommendation on November 8 to begin negotiations, but additional conditions will be put forward. And on December 14-15, at the EU summit, a decision will be made whether to begin membership negotiations with Ukraine.
On October 26, Stefanishyna expressed confidence that Ukraine will be able to reach a good political decision on joining the EU in December. On October 28, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky addressed the leaders of the European Union countries, calling for unity in the decision to begin negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. On October 31, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba assured that Ukraine would begin negotiations on accession to the EU this year, unless there are force majeure events. And on November 4, Zelensky said that Ukraine was not asking for “indulgences” on the path to membership in the European Union.
As of early November, the European Commission considered four of the seven criteria that accompanied the granting of Ukraine candidate status to join the European Union to be fully met.
On 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.
On November 27, Zelensky had a conversation with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. He said Ukraine would implement all recommendations to begin accession negotiations before the December European Council meeting, including those related to the rights of national minorities and strengthening anti-corruption institutions.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba held talks in Brussels on November 28, which resulted in Spain supporting the start of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.
