Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said on Saturday he hoped negotiations for the country’s accession to the European Union (EU) could start this year.
“Ukraine hopes to complete the implementation of the European Commission’s recommendations as soon as possible and start EU membership negotiations this year,” the official said on the Telegram social network, after meeting with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in Lviv. .
Volodymir Zelensky thanked Metsola for his “leadership” in supporting Ukraine and for the “important decisions” taken by the European Parliament.
Metsola welcomes progress in EU bid
Meanwhile, Roberta Metsola praised the “pace of progress” in Ukraine’s candidacy for the European Union and said she hoped accession negotiations would start later this year.
“The pace at which the Supreme Council of Ukraine and the government are moving forward on the EU application impresses me,” he said, emphasizing that “Ukraine’s future lies in the European Union.” “I am hopeful that accession negotiations can start as early as this year,” he said.
Roberta Metsola emphasized that “the European Parliament is calling for tougher sanctions against Russia and closing gaps”, reiterating her call on member states to “provide all the necessary military equipment, ammunition and defense systems Ukraine needs to win”.
“Member States should seriously consider sending fighter jets to Ukraine,” the official stressed.
For the leader of the European Assembly: “There can be no peace without accountability, there can be no peace without freedom, justice and dignity”.
In mid-2022, EU member states took a landmark decision to grant candidate country status to Ukraine and Moldova, joining a wider group of countries, some of which had long been in the ‘queue’ to join the EU. European bloc, without any progress in recent years.
Accession procedures are extremely lengthy and some countries with candidate status for enlargement have therefore been waiting for many years for the formal opening of negotiations.
Zelensky traveled this Friday to Lviv, Western Ukraine, where he was attending an international conference.
Before the meeting in Lviv, Metsola visited Kiev and met the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk.
Source: DN
