Prime Minister Shmygal: Ukraine prepares application for EU membership

"Evropeys’ka Pravda" – Monday, 28 February 2022, 16:38

According to "Evropeys’ka Pravda", Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced via his Twitter account on Monday that Ukraine is preparing an application for European Union membership.

"The prime minister of Slovakia, Eduard Heger, made an important proposition about Ukraine’s membership to the European Union. We are already preparing an application. The people of Ukraine made their choice long ago. Sincere gratitude for the effective support!" Shmygal wrote.

Meanwhile, information agency "Interfax-Ukraine" reports that the EU is expecting to receive president Zelenskyy’s request to urgently give Ukraine EU membership very soon. This will initiate the procedure of the request’s consideration, according to a high-ranking European official in Brussels who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.

"Yesterday I spoke directly with Ukraine’s foreign minister seven or nine times. I understand that, yes, this request is currently being finalised. I expect that we will most likely receive it very soon. Then, and this is absolutely obvious, the treaty procedure will begin: EU Council will consider the application very quickly in order to decide whether to make the request for an urgent opinion from the European Commission. The procedure is entirely clear. To sum up, we expect to receive Ukraine’s application in the very near future," the official said.

In terms of the procedure, the EU membership application should be directed to the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Council is currently headed by France.

The official noted that the procedure of reviewing Ukraine’s application could be an important one for president Zelenskyy; this issue could potentially be used in talks with Russia, as the European Union is a project built around peace and using dialogue to resolve conflict.

After Russia’s invasion, several EU countries have called upon the union to give Ukraine a pathway to membership. Slovakia suggested that a special procedure be created for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

Yesterday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stated that she considers Ukraine to be "one of us" and that she wants to see Ukraine in the EU. However, she did not clarify what Ukraine’s chance of joining the EU are, especially under the accelerated program.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated that Ukraine has a clear European perspective, but right now "we have to fight the aggression."