Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine said on August 29, 2022, that greater clarity regarding the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU would appear at the end of 2023 when the presidents of the EU and Ukraine would meet.
Source: Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna
According to the Minister, 2023 looks very realistic for the start of negotiations.
“We prepared almost 6,000 answers to the questionnaire and we did it together with the EU. Because all the reforms we made, we made them together to implement the Association Agreement. That is, the understanding of Ukraine is very great. Therefore, certain procedures – such as screening, evaluation of markets, and legislation – are not something that will take years, but are already work that needs to be formalized. Therefore, it is absolutely realistic to proceed to negotiations after all evaluations already in 2023.”
According to Stefanishyna’s assessment, Ukraine is able to fulfil the requirements within the framework of the negotiations for even three years, and we are definitely not talking about a decade.
“We have a strong position, which consists in the fact that we took the initiative into our hands. We do not wait and do not sit until the EU tells us how to proceed in the EU. We do not want to follow in the footsteps of the last expansion countries, we do not want to be part of the Balkan expansion format – because each wave of expansion has its certain historical aspects.”
Ukraine received formal status only in June, but before that, it did a lot.
“We carried out a lot of reforms, fulfilled a lot of obligations under the Association Agreement, which, in principle, in the conditions of the war, made important decisions possible: transport visa-free, joining the European energy system, cancelling tariffs and quotas, and many, many things that will still happen at the beginning of the year,” explained the Deputy Prime Minister.
See also: Ukraine has fulfilled 70% of its obligations under Association Agreement with EU
