The government expects Ukraine to be granted EU candidate status in June
SATURDAY, 9 APRIL 2022, 12:18
Olga Stefanishina, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, said that Ukraine could receive the status of a candidate to the European Union in June.
Stefanishina commented on this on Twitter on Saturday, "Evropeyska Pravda" writes.
"Ukraine has received a questionnaire for EU membership. We have already done a lot of preparatory work, so we are ready to act quickly. We expect to receive candidate status in June," Stefanishina wrote.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that the candidate status is part of "our recovery and victory over the Russian aggressor who wants to change Ukraine's democratic course".
Stefanishina's expectations are based on the fact that a summit of European Union leaders is scheduled for June, where a decision can be made.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen officially handed over a questionnaire to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, which is a necessary step in granting Ukraine EU candidate status.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would be ready with its answers in a week.
According to Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the questionnaire received by Ukraine is significantly shorter than that issued to other countries, and Ukraine has already provided the European Commission with 70% of the required information.
"When we signed the association agreement, or when we joined the ENTSO-E system, we provided the European Commission with information on what was happening in Ukraine, on the state of the economy, on energy should we join ENTSO-E, so now we have to submit only about 30% of such information to the European Commission", Ukrinform quoted Zhovkva’s speech, made on air during the national 24/7 newscast.
On 28 February, four days after the start of the Russian aggression, Ukraine formally applied to Brussels to join the EU and expressed hope that, given the circumstances, the EU would be able to start the procedure quickly.
For more on the procedure for Ukraine's accession to the EU, see: "Candidate maximum: how the European Commission plans to promote Ukraine to EU membership".
