Poroshenko says Ukraine to submit bid for EU membership in 2020

Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 12:06 (EEST) Section: Latest news

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that Ukraine intends to apply for membership of the European Union in 2020.
He said this, while opening the second stage of the 12th extraordinary congress of judges, Radio Liberty reported.
Poroshenko said that today he would present his reform program “Ukraine 2020” to the public.
“This program foresees about 60 reforms and special programs that will allow Ukraine to prepare for submitting in six years a bid for membership of the European Union,” he said.
He said that a major reform was a change of the judicial system so to re-build public trust in judges.
As reported, Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the EU has already been ratified by six European countries – Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta. The document should be ratified by the parliaments of all 28 EU member states.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry predicted that the ratification of the Association Agreement by EU member states would be completed within three years.
On September 16, the agreement was simultaneously ratified the Verkhovna Rada and the European Parliament.